Most of the morning had passed, as the alphas searched for the three young wolves. About an hour ago  the alphas decided to split up to cover more ground. Yoongi was quickly running out of energy. He should've eaten more, he thought. He closed his eyes and tried to pick up the scent of the three boys. He inhaled deeply. 

Squirrels...pine trees...wildflowers...some orange scent?...and French toast? 

Yoongi opened his eyes and looked around. He was sure that he was far away enough from the mansion to stop smelling breakfast. So why did he smell oranges and French toast? Maybe it was his hungry mind messing with his senses. He shook his head and tried to reset. He closed his eyes again and inhaled deeply again. 

Squirrels... pine trees...citrus...wildflowers...French toast... blue jays...sparrows...fresh water...French toast—stupid hungry brain—...some citrusy scent again and wolves. 

Yoongi scrunched his nose and tried to discern the wolf scent. He sniffed the air intensely. They didn't smell foreign...they were pretty familiar. They weren't any of the alpha scents he recognized...young...The scent is young! It's the kids! Yoongi howled and sprinted towards the scent.

*~*~*~*~*

"Noona which one of us is your favorite?" Beomgyu curled up cutely in your lap.

"I don't have a favorite. And even if I did why would I tell you?" you laughed while ruffling his hair.

"It's okay, I know it's me." Yeonjun pushed Beomgyu off your lap and placed his head on your lap instead.

"Why would it be you? It's obviously me!" Beomgyu growled and pulled Yeonjun off. The two then wrestled on the floor. While they're distracted, Soobin snuck onto your lap and earned some head scratches you. You laughed at the two kids wrestling and laughed even harder when they realized they had been outsmarted by Soobin. As punishment, Soobin was pulled into the wrestling mix.

"Noona help!" Soobin yelled as Yeonjun jumped on top of him.

"Alright, kids stop with the rough housing! Let's go gather some herbs." You stood up and snapped your fingers, summoning a basket from your upstairs bedroom.

"What are we making today?" Beomgyu circling you.

"It's a surprise," you winked at him then headed outside with the three wolves right behind.

*~*~*~*~*

The scent of the young wolves grew stronger as Yoongi dashed through the forest. He paused for a moment and looked around. He was pretty far from home but luckily still in their pack's territory. He hoped the kids hadn't gone too far. It was fine as long as they stayed in the territory. But the moment they stepped out, things became more complicated. He wasn't ready to fight other wolves... not in his hungry condition. He looked up at the sky, it was probably midday already. As he looked around, he noticed things he hadn't seen before. The types of trees had changed. They weren't just pine or fir anymore. They became the flowering type. There were also a lot more rocks in the area. There were also a lot more mountain area.

Wait...Where was he exactly?

He realized that he had never really been that far out in their territory before. Damn where did those kids go? Why were they this far out? Yoongi shook his head to focus and howled before running towards the kids' scent once more.

*~*~*~*~*

"Did you hear that?" Soobin stopped plucking flowers.

"Yeah I heard it too!" Yeonjun looked around.

"Did it sound mad?" Beomgyu asked his cousins.

"What are you kids talking about now?" you stood up and looked around the field as well.

"Noona...uh...you should go back home now," Soobin approached you carefully.

"We just got here, and we haven't even gotten the basket a quarter way full."

"Y-yeah but noona...We don't want you getting hurt." Beomgyu tugged on your arm.

"Plucking herbs isn't exactly the most dangerous thing in the world."

"Noona please! Go home!" Yeonjun tugged on your other arm desperately.

"You guys are going to—" you were cut off by a howl. The three kids quickly cowered behind you. You turned to see a large white wolf slowly coming towards you. Its eyes were an artic blue unlike the red ones you constantly saw in your dreams. The wolf was quiet and approached slowly. You heard the pups whimper behind you. You figured the wolf must have been from an enemy pack. Your maternal instinct kicked in.

"Stay back!" you yelled at the wolf, "You're not hurting my pups!"

The wolf didn't verbally respond but tilted its head in confusion. After a moment of just staring, the wolf slowly approached once more.

"Don't come any closer or I'll...I'll..." you tried to think of a threat that might work. Magic quickly comes to your mind. You point your finger at him. The wolf tilted his head again in confusion and stepped forward to try and smell your finger. You took this as a threat and called out,

"Leaver flesrouy!"

Yoongi felt a rushing sensation course through his body. He grunted at the feeling of his bones bending (but not breaking) and he felt himself shrinking. Before he knew it, he was kneeling in front of you in his human form. You on the other hand, felt some kind of distress as you cast a spell on him. It was a panicked feeling but you weren't panicking yourself.

"Hyung!" The boys, now back in their human forms, rushed to his side.

"Hyung?!" you repeated and realized you have just attacked a member of the boys' pack. You quickly dropped to the floor and pushed the boys away to get a good look at the man. You felt your chest constrict. You placed your hand on his cheek to calm him and as you touch, you felt time stop. He was gorgeous. Yoongi stopped struggling and looked up at you. The scent of tangerines surrounded him and overwhelmed his senses. 

Mate he hears a voice in the back of his mind. 

His nostrils flared as he tried to inhale more of the scent. His pain subsided as your touch comforted him. You both sighed in relief. The two of you stared at each other for what felt like forever. There was a certain familiarity you felt with him although he was a complete stranger. You rubbed his cheek gently before brushing your thumb against his lips. He let out a soft, hungry growl. It was like he wanted you to touch him more. He slowly reached a hand to yours, pushed your hand to his lips and kisses it. He heard you gasp. God what he would do to hear it again.

"I'm sorry," you whispered to him and ran your fingers through his hair to soothe him. You lightly stroked his cheek with the back of your hand, and he just closed his eyes to enjoy it. He was in paradise. Your touch was like heaven to him.

As soon at the boys see that Yoongi is okay, they quickly pounced on him.

"Hyung! We're so sorry!"

Yoongi snapped back to reality. That's right, he was here to retrieve three naughty little pups. He pushed them off of him and sat up.

"You three!"

Seeing their hyung angry, the boys bounded behind you once more.

"Noona protect us!"

"Do you know how worried we all were? Disappearing like that without a word to anyone?" Yoongi growled while standing up and looking for the clothes he brought in the event he needed to turn human. When he found them, he grabbed it and immediately started putting them on.

"Disappearing without a word to anyone?!" You turned to the kids with a pissed off glare. They cowered in front of you.

"You three said you had permission to be here!"

"Permission?" Yoongi turned to you, putting his pants on, kicking his leg through the tight leg sleeve, "Absolutely not. These boys have been lying to you, sweetheart."

Shit did he just say sweetheart? Yoongi stopped talking abruptly to gauge your reaction. But you hadn't even noticed the term of endearment he used.

"You three are in big trouble!" You crossed your arms and nudged Yoongi who was now fully dressed, "Tell them,"

"She's absolutely right. You are all grounded!"

"Separately!" you added, "Don't think you guys can just stay indoors together and have fun."

Yoongi looked at you in admiration. You'd make a good mother to his pups, he thought. But he quickly shook that notion out of his head. It was too early to be thinking about pups. You didn't even know that you two were mates.

"Hyung!" the boys pled with him.

"No, no she's right. You're all grounded and will be residing in separate wings for a week! Now go home, I need to talk to this beautiful, vibrant...strong, dominating, pleasant smelling—he realizes he's rambling –uh...woman."

"Bu—" Beomgyu started.

"Now!" you cut him off and glared at the boys. They yelped in fear and run back.

"Nicely done," Yoongi applauded.

"Aren't you worried they'll get lost or something?" you turned to him with concern.

"No, they'll be fine. It's good practice for tracking."

"What if they just run off again?"

"They won't. They already know how much trouble they're in. They won't want to incur more punishment, but you..." Yoongi leaned closer to sniff you. The strong, mouthwatering, intoxicating scent of... fresh tangerines...came from you...how delicious. His nose then twitched as he realized that your scent was mixed with other aromas. Young wolves and something...feline. Yoongi frowned. Those darn pups scented you without realizing it and that he could deal with but the feline scent... What the fuck was that about? You were his, why was there a feline scent on you?

"I'm so sorry about the boys. I swear I didn't know,"

"Don't worry about it. Those three have always been troublemakers but...What are you doing here?" he asked, trying to stop himself from asking about the cat scent.

"Here? Well, I was picking herbs for a... something special. I was going to give it to the boys but now I see that they don't deserve a treat."

"No, I mean...Here in our territory..."

"Your territory? But I didn't see any signs that said this land belonged to anyone...I just sort of settled."

"Well...I mean... okay, well there's no sign because we didn't think that non-wolves would be moving here. How'd you even get here?"

"Oh I flew here on my broomstick," you said casually.

Yoongi raised his eyebrow, "Broomstick?"

"How else would a witch travel?

Yoongi nodded...a human witch as his mate. Interesting... Witches weren't really accepted well in the wolf society. So the elders of the pack would never accept you but he could deal with that.

"Right...so where's your house?"

"It's over there," you pointed at a large tree in the distance. Yoongi looked at where you pointed. It was still in their pack's territory, so that was still technically a problem. His face crinkled as he thought about this. You noticed the concerned look on his face.

"I'm sorry...I can move if me being here is the problem. I don't want to get you in trouble with your pack," you offered. Yoongi shook his head and just looked at you seriously,

"It's fine...not like anyone is going to notice now but...Listen, the boys...you can't see them again."

"What? Why not?"

"It's for their safety."

"Oh..." you looked down. You supposed that the boys maybe had protective parents that didn't want them hanging out with a stranger. More importantly, a stranger with magic. It wasn't like you were going to use your magic to hurt them, but their parents didn't know that. Yoongi could sense your sadness and guilt, so he pulled you in for a hug. You quickly wrapped your arms around him and began to sniffle. Yoongi stroked your back gently,

"Hey, it's okay. Maybe one day when they're all grown up you'll get to see them."

"I know it's just...my last words to them were so mean...I didn't know I wouldn't be able to see them again." You pulled back and look up at him.

"How about this? I'll tell them you said you'll miss them. That way your last words won't be so harsh."

"That sounds nice...thank you. Please tell them that I really do like them, but I just want them safe as well."

"No worries."

You fully pulled back and wipe your eyes, "Thank you."

After realizing that you have just hugged and cried in a stranger's shoulder, you turned pink and looked away. But at the same time, you didn't feel embarrassed about being so close to him. Why did you feel so close to him?

"Do you need help getting home?"

"Oh uh..." you hesitated. Technically you didn't need help getting home, but you also didn't want the man to go away. For some reason his presence made you giddy.

"I don't mind walking you at all...It would only be appropriate since I sent your entourage home," he said, sensing your uncertainty.

"That... would be nice." You smiled.

He held out his hand and you took it easily while leading him to your place. It was weird...you weren't really a touchy person especially to strangers, but he didn't feel like a stranger. Was it just because he was good looking that you trusted him so easily? Were you that shallow? But you knew it was something more than that. He was obviously a respectable, good man if those three rascals listened to him. He was probably responsible because he went looking for the kids. Strong because he went by himself. There was a reason you trusted him and him being handsome is just a plus, you reasoned.

Meanwhile, Yoongi couldn't stop looking at you and smelling you. He was scared that if he blinked, you'd disappear. He was right to wait for you because...the feeling of being this close to his mate...It was excitement and peace mixed with happiness and just a feeling of being whole. Nothing in the world could beat this feeling. What could be going through your mind? How was he going to explain being mates with you? Did you believe in that stuff? You probably did because you were a magic user. Wait did you just smile? It was so pretty...why did you smile? The walk was silent but not uncomfortable, he thought. It was the kind of silence one could only enjoy with a person who knew you intimately. As you approached your house, you let go of Yoongi's hand. You both felt a certain emptiness the moment it happened.

"This is me," you gestured to a house that has been carved into the tree.

"Yeah..." Yoongi doesn't even look at the tree because he's so entranced by you.

"I hope I can see you again at least." You boldly said.

"You will, my little tangerine," Yoongi smiled then blushed after realizing he used a pet name, "S-sorry. I didn't mean it...I uh.. you—uh..."

"It's okay...I kind of like it... but uhm...my name...it's Y/N."

"Yoongi."

"Yoongi..." you whispered to yourself as if his name is a forbidden secret that mustn't be spoken. Your lips tingled as you repeat it. Yoongi looked at you dreamily. His name coming from your mouth was music to his ears.

"I have to go now.. but I'll see you soon,"

"Good-bye..."

Yoongi gave you one last glance and showed off his gummy smile before disappearing into the woods.

*~*~*~*~*