Chan and Ash sat in his room as she began to tell him what would happen. With his belly full of ribeye, he finally felt full. The gnawing hunger had finally gone away. Except now the pure shock was starting to set in.

"Normally, we start changing as kids. Our bodies are more flexible and the change doesn't hurt as much. Over time, it becomes much less painful. I barely feel any pain at all when I change."

Chan swallowed hard, clearly intimidated, but nodding slightly.

"Eventually, you'll be able to shift whenever you want. However, this weekend you won't have a choice. It'll start around midnight and last a few hours."

Chan nodded, a cold burning sensation covering his whole body. Ashina paused for a moment and asked if he was ok.

"Earth to Chan?" She said waving a hand in front of his face. A few hours ago he was the same Chan he'd always been. Now he's eating raw meat and talking about becoming an animal. He hadn't even gotten to process the fact that she was his mate.

"Chan?" She asked again as his eyes slowly came back into focus.

"Huh?" He replied quietly.

"You ok?" She asked quietly. She had been raised a wolf, and she couldn't imagine finding out at her current age. The changing alone was...not something she'd want to do for the first time as an adult.

Once you've stopped growing your growth plates fuse and you loose all flexibility needed to transition. If you start as a child, you're able to retain that flexibility making it easier.

He was essentially going to break every single bone, and he was going to feel every single one.

"No" he finally replied. He felt uneasy, nervous, anxious, and something inside of him was restless. However, the girl sitting across from him felt familiar and comforting. Even though they just met, all he wanted to do was hold her.

Just the few small touches when she rolled up his sleeve earlier sent a warm calming wave through him. He was already looking for another reason to touch her, wanting to chase that feeling.

"Where do I go? When it happens? Do I have to lock myself up?" He asked still staring at nothing.

"That's another myth. You have full control of yourself in wolf form. You will have stronger instincts, but you are in control. I don't know why tv shows always show wolves waking up in fields, covered in dirt and blood, with no recollection of what happened. So annoying." She scoffed.

"What happens if I'm not in Korea when it happens? I don't have a whole lot of control over my schedule." He asked concerned.

"There's dens all over the world. They're free, great places to change. They're safe and private. I'll give you all that info, I promise." She assured him. He nodded and the room fell into silence. She wanted to answer all of his questions, but she also knew there was more she hadn't told him.

"I can't do any more of this today." He says quietly. The sun had gone down hours ago and he was exhausted.

"I get it, I know it's a lot." She said smiling shyly and beginning to stand and head for the door. He quickly stood in front of her and she looked up at him surprised.

He didn't want her to leave. He'd been agitated, anxious, and generally pissed off for days. Being around her today calmed him and made him feel more like himself.

"Don't leave" he said quietly in the dim room. She tilted her head and looked up at him confused. They'd just officially met earlier this afternoon, but she had to admit that her wolf was really enjoying his company.

"Why not?"

She honestly wanted nothing more than to just rip off his clothes and go at it, but that didn't seem appropriate. He took a step closer to her and pulled her chin up gently with his fingers.

"Because it feels good to be near you." He whispered.

She swallowed before answering, trying to be flirty, "That's the bond talking." She laughed reluctantly taking one step backwards. "We may be mates, but I don't know much of anything about you."

"Then stay, we can talk about something other than how much pain I'm going to be in." He insisted.

"Don't you have stuff to do tomorrow? It's already almost midnight." She insisted. She didn't know why she was coming up with excuses. She wanted to wrap her arms around his waist and snuggle into his chest and purr all night long, but she did just meet him. Mate or not, that was rushing things.

"Then come back here tomorrow? Around 5? I should be home by then." Chan wanted her to stay so badly, but she had a point. He had a full schedule tomorrow and he had to try and get some sleep.

"I'll be here." She nodded.

She slipped out of his room and let herself out the front door. It hadn't been more than thirty seconds and he was already back to being agitated and restless.

****

"I thought I'd seen a lot of the world. Apparently, what you've seen and what I've seen are polar opposites." He said letting out a small laugh.

"I wanted to see the less polished parts of the world. The parts that other people tend to overlook."

They sat in a very small family owned restaurant in Insadong. The cobblestone street outside was wet with rain and reflecting all the nearby lights. The front door was open, mixing the smell of fresh rain with the smell of food.

The ajumma behind the counter worked away over a cook too to fill orders from tired business men who wondered into the shop on their way home.

"My pack alpha wasn't happy when I told her I wanted to travel. She told me she'd support me, but that I may not be welcome back." Ash looked down at the hot chocolate she'd ordered.

"Were you? Welcomed back?" He asked carefully.

"It's still undecided. I have a tribunal next week. Great timing." She shrugged. "The fact that I found a mate would normally help me, but they're going to consider you an outsider. Which....does me no good."

"Oh." Chan was disappointed, but he didn't know why. Maybe they would force her to cut him off. He didn't want that. He already liked how he felt around her.

"It's not the first time I've pissed my pack off. It's not always a bad result." She said noticing the look on his face.

"The rain stopped, we should probably take the chance and get out of here." He laughed.

They wondered around walking aimlessly until they ended up outside of her apartment. It wasn't unusual to live separately from your pack these days. It kept suspicions down and helped maintain a low profile.

"Wanna come up? It's still early..."

He knew he should say no. He knew that Chan from a few days ago would have said no. He knew that every single bit of him was telling him yes.

"Yeah, I've got time." He heard himself saying it before it registered. He had two interviews around eleven, then he had the next two days off. One of which he'd be spending as a wolf. Might as well go up.

****

The second the door was behind them Chan pushed her back into it and kissed her. He couldn't help it, something in him felt like he needed to. Maybe it was his wolf, hungry for his mate. Who knows. He still wasn't entirely sure what being her mate meant except that after two days of knowing her he was craving her. Her touch, her smell, her taste.

His hands slowly roamed down her body as she pushed away from the door and led him to her room, never once breaking their kiss.

Clothes were torn off and discarded, leaving a trail from the front door to the bedroom. Finally in her room, they both collapsed onto her bed.

He peppered her neck with kisses while she let a moan escape her lips. The feeling of his fingers touching her skin left traces of fireworks and goosebumps. Leaving small little explosions in their wake.

Chan's common sense was screaming at him to stop, that this was a bad idea. But by the time he finally was inside of her his brain had shut down. He pinned both her hands over her head and he moved his hips. Feeling her walls move around him brought him closer and closer to his high.

Ashina couldn't even manage full sentences as she felt the knot in her stomach start to form. "Chan, I'm..."

"Me too, just let go." He whispered against the shell of her ear sending her over the edge, he kept his quick pace as long as he could to help her ride it out as her body shook underneath him. She felt him twitch inside of her as he reached his own end.

She felt him lay his weight gently on top of her for a moment while he caught his breath before rolling to the side and she rolled on her side to face him.

"Fuck" he breathed as their legs were still tangled together.

"Mmhmm" Ash mumbled happily as he pulled her closer to him.

A moment of comfortable silence fell between them before Chan finally spoke.

"I don't usually do this, I-"

"Really? Is this the part where you tell me you're not like the other girls?" She said giggling at the embarrassed look on his face.

"I—that is not what I meant!" Chan laughed as she snuggled into his chest. "I just mean I usually get to know someone better first."

"It's the mating bond."

"You mentioned that before, what is that?" He asked pushing a piece of hair out of her face, before running his fingertips down her arm and snaking it across her waist.

"It's complicated. It's a bond between us that starts with the temporary bite. It grows stronger over time, and when you finally bite me with a permanent mark it'll solidify it." She explained, "basically we can feel each other through it. Eventually talk through it, that kind of thing. It's what makes you feel like you've known me for a long time."

"I have to bite you? Why can't you bite me, you know more about all this than I do."

"Cause you're the alpha here, you gotta do what alphas gotta do." She laughed and poked him in the arm.

"I am? How do you know that?" He was intrigued. He'd heard about pack dynamics with certain dogs and animals, but never with wolf human vampire hybrids. The again, no one probably had.

"I can smell it on you, especially with the equinox tomorrow. You probably noticed your sense of smell is heightened."

"That explains why the smell of everything makes me wanna hurl." Being part vampire, his sense of smell was always on a heightened level to begin with, but this was a whole new level.

"Exactly! You're learning, Chan. As soon as we get through tomorrow night, we can figure everything else out." He smiled and pressed his forehead against hers and inhaled deeply.

"You smell good though..." he whispered nuzzling his nose down into her neck and inhaling the sweet scent of dahlias, ylang ylang, and chocolate. Ash put a hand behind his head and tangled her fingers gently in his hair and sighed shortly before they both fell asleep.