Takumi woke up in a hospital bed.“Finally, you decided to wake up. You tall, dumb, blonde motherfucker, you scared the hell out of me.”“Whoa, slow down. What happened and where am I?”“The pack's hospital. I accidentally marked you. The doctor said I almost punctured an important vein. You were unconscious for a little over a week.”“Then why were you scolding me instead of crying tears of joy?”“The doctor said that you were ok, you just didn't want to wake up is all. So that kind of pissed me off.”“Geez, you say it as if I chose not to. Come closer.”“Ok?”He stared at her face for a bit.“Is there something on my face?” She asked.“No. But were you sleeping here the whole time?”She shifted her gaze to anywhere but his. “No.” She answered.“I know you're lying. I can see the bags under your eyes. Don't tell me that you also haven't been eating properly.”“I tried at least.”“What am I going to do with you?”He then noticed what was on her wrist.“You're wearing the bracelet?”“Y

Takumi woke up with a note stuck to his face. It said:Pack elders wanted to see me. Not sure why or when I'll be back.Meanwhile...“Your original wolf was a white one. And we all know that white wolves are destined to be Lunas and that they always give birth to the strongest pups. Hence, they always get an Alpha as a mate.”“Where are you going with this?”“The problem is that white wolves are also the ones who are in the most danger because they are sought after. Unmated males will try to mark one because being mated to a white she-wolf means having a right to challenge an Alpha for his position. Or, if applicable, even the offspring of white wolves have the right. The situation is worse in your case. The entire empire knows about your wolf.”“I already know all that. Can you get to the point?”“We think that it's best if you consider finding another mate, who's a wolf. Before you say anything, listen to what we have to say. As far as everyone outside the pack is concerned, you're

The next morning, she woke up with a fever and a stuffy nose. Takumi walked into the room.“Oh good, you're awake. The power's back but it looks like we'll be staying inside today; it's still raining heavily.”She didn't get up and only hummed in response.“Something wrong?”“I feel like a massive pile of shit.”He put his hand on her forehead.“So, Miss. I-never-get-sick, it looks like you caught a cold.”“Tis doesn’t want to heal me. She said something about learning my lesson but it’s a bitch move in my opinion.”“I can’t say that I don’t agree with her. I'll go make you something to eat.”“No, I don't want to eat anything. I just want to sleep.”“Wow, you must be seriously sick if you don't even want to eat anything. But you still have to if you don't want to get worse.”“Geez, is this what being sick feels like? I feel like I'm dying.”“You wouldn't feel like this if you had listened to me.”Takumi woke up and found the other side of the bed empty. He went into the living room an

Later in the year…“You’re back late,” Twilight said as he came through the door. “Were you held up somewhere or was the traffic that bad?”“Both. I was at my parents’ place with Yuri so we could try and get ourselves out of this mess. Her parents were there too, and her mom practically fainted when Yuri came out of the closet and confessed to already having a girlfriend for a while. There were arguments about what to do now. My dad then told Yuri and I that we can leave, and he’ll keep us updated. I don’t know if they’re still arguing, but the drive back was exhausting.”“Sounds messy but low-key wish I was there with popcorn.”“Speaking of going somewhere, where are you going all dressed up?”“Nowhere yet, but I’ll tell you later.”“Ok. Are those heels?”“They’re only one and a half inches so I don’t know if it counts, especially since the ankle straps make them look like sandals.”“I think the block-like structure makes them count but what do I know? By the way, a package came for

“Remind me to never run away again.”“I want to ask you something.”“What?”He took her hand and put the ring on it. It was made of 18K white gold with small aquamarine stones embedded around it in intricate patterns, like lacework, and a steel grey diamond in the centre with a smaller fancy grey diamond on either side of it. No doubt, it was custom-made.“Marry me?”“Uh...wait. Oh, I get it.” She burst out laughing.“What's so funny?” He raised an eyebrow.She stopped.“You were serious?”“Yeah.”“Oh.”“Is something wrong?”“I just need to think a bit.”“Ok.”They sat in silence for a little while.“I just remembered that I never thanked you.” He said.“For what?”“For staying with me despite everything. Youhei told me about your argument with the pack elders.”“Oh. There's no to thank me for that, you know.”“Tell me what's wrong.”“Look, as much as I want to be with you, marriage is a big deal. And we haven’t even been dating that long.”“Wait. I didn't mean that we should get marr