chapter thirty three; humans

    “Mates,” Mark faltered as his gaze left hers. He stared at the wall behind her with an unreadable expression, a clear conflict in his brown eyes.

Jae Ah felt a wave of unease at his odd reaction. He seemed nervous. “Yeah…” She finally continued, “Mates. They called me your mate. I didn’t know you were…. British.” Her brows furrowed in slight confusion, “It means ‘friend’, right?”

Mark couldn’t help the smile that pulled at his lips. He hesitated before glancing back at her, “Uh, a little more than that, I guess.”

Jae Ah lifted her gaze to meet his again. She parted her lips to speak but a sudden feeling of warmth flooded through her, stalling her. With his gaze connected to her, she suddenly felt such comfort that it startled her. She wanted to reach out and touch him. Her hands wrung together, controlling her odd urges. “W-What do you mean?” Her voice wasn’t as steady as she wanted it to be.

Mark pressed his lips together, wondering if he should tell her the truth or not. His wolf growled in his mind, wanting his mate to be fully his. And the only way that would happen is if she knew and accepted everything, even this.

A sigh escaped his lips as his hands tightened on the blanket around him. With a shaky breath, he pushed his hands against the bed in an attempt to sit up. Jae Ah’s eyes rounded as she realized what he was trying to do and she hovered over him in worry. He winced in pain as he leaned against the headboard of the bed uncomfortably.

Her hands hovered above his body as she leaned over him with clear worry, “Are you okay? Aren’t you in pain? Lie back down.”

Mark felt his heart swell at her caution and he smiled unconsciously, “I’m fine.” He wouldn’t be a werewolf if he couldn’t take a little pain.

Jae Ah warily sat back down on her chair before clasping her hands together once more. She looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to start speaking.

Mark knew there was no escaping the conversation so he took in another breath before averting his gaze to the clock hanging on the wall in front of him and starting, “Mates is short for another word…. Uh, soul mates.” Mark desperately wanted to see her reaction at the full term but he willed himself to keep staring forward. “Werewolves, we… we have soul mates. Wolves only really have one mate for their entire life so it’s the same for us. It’s like we only love one person in our entire life. But when we love them, we love them with everything we have. We don’t really get to choose our mates either. We just know when someone is our mate. Call it wolf instinct.”

Mark counted a good 30 seconds before he even heard Jae Ah take a breath. His heart sank as he heard her heart beat speed up, obviously with fear. This was it. She was going to leave for good. It hadn’t been because of Jinwoo or anything of that sort. It was because of him.

“H-How…” Jae Ah’s voice was strained, “How is that possible?”

Mark’s gaze dropped to the blanket and he took that moment to suddenly realize he was in Jaebum’s room, “How am I possible? I shift into a wolf on will. That’s not something normal.” His lips pulled up but his smile held no happiness, “It’s a Legend. That the Moon Goddess, or Luna, gifted each werewolf as a mate to make sure we survive. Our mates are people that are perfectly made for us, down to the DNA. The… um, the offspring will be strong enough to survive. It’s a person whose strong enough to keep the bloodlines going. People also like to think of a way of being happy. We are werewolves. Our lives aren’t easy. But Luna blessed us all to give us something to live for: our mate.” He paused, “No one really knows. It’s all just Legends. People can’t exactly just go ask Luna.”

It was silent in the room after Mark’s words faded away. He stayed staring down at the blanket, waiting for a reaction. When he suddenly heard the sound of a chair scraping against the wooden floor, his gaze