Chapter 5 : This is My House

Chapter 5: This is My House

Jieun

The air is cooling as the moon rises higher in the ever-darkening sky. I feel Kwan surge with power as the moon rises higher. This feeling of freedom is addictive; the adrenaline rush as I get farther and farther away from my prison brings me true happiness for the first time in my life.

I go deeper into the forest. I feel its energy all around me. This is my home. The home I have always known was waiting for me. I need the forest. I don’t need a pack or a family; what good have they ever done me? None. I will live on as my mother did before my father dragged her away.

Kwan is zigzagging up the mountain. I feel something tugging my attention. Kwan feels it, too. She stops. “I feel it too. Be on guard.” I warn.

Kwan doesn’t say a word, but she gets down as low as she can and slowly goes in the direction of the pull. Her fur is on end, and we are both ready to strike. She takes in a deep breath of air. “The sent of rain is strong.”

“I spell some type of mint as well,” I responded. Kwan takes in another deep breath. “That smell! There are werewolves nearby. Be alert. They can’t catch us.”

Kwan backs up and disappears into a bush. “We need to conceal our scent. The fox scent mixed with an unaffiliated wolf is too sweet for wolves not to notice.” She’s right, but what can we do?

I think fast. “Find some mud and cover us in it. It will not conceal our scent completely but will make it less obvious.”

Kwan starts hunting down some mud, and she quickly finds a mud hole. She sets down our bundle of cloths and sheets and begins to roll around in the mud covering as much of her fur as she can. It feels gross. The mud is caking in and clumping up, but we must endure. Once the mud coating is thick enough to mask as much of our scent as possible, she picks up our bundle and continues our journey to mothers.

We both agree it’s best to take it slower and to get as far from the scent of wolves as we can for now. We take a longer route, but soon, we are near.

“Stop, Kwan, do you see that? There’s a light. Who is in the mother’s house? Be on guard.” Damn it. I worked so hard to get away and get here. Now I might not have anywhere to go.

“I think it’s another fox. Do you smell that?” She takes a deep inhale. “It’s sweet like cherry blossoms.”

“You’re right. We can kick them out easy.” I push forward and force a shift. My skin and hair have dried mud caked all over, but there’s no time to clean up. I don’t want to dirty my clothes, so I step forward naked and confident.

“I don’t know who you are, but you must leave now! This house belongs to me!” I yell out. I hear footsteps, and the door opens.

“Who are you? Leave this is my house.” A young fox yells from the door.

“I am the rightful owner of this house. You need to leave.” I growl out.

“I’ve lived here for 15 years. Go away.” The mystery fox steps out of the house and stands a few feet away from me. She sniffs the air. “What are you?”

“The owner of this house now leaves before I make you.” I glare at her and snarl, showing my growing canines.

“What are you? I smell fox and wolf.” The fox gives me a disgusted look.

“I told you I am the owner of this house, and you need to leave,” I scream.

“Go find another abandoned house. This one is mine.” She turns to walk back inside.

“This house belonged to my mother. You have no right to be here.” I ready myself to pounce. If she didn’t leave voluntarily, I would make her go.

The fox turns around with a sly smirk on her face. “Oh, so your mother is gone. So, I was right. This was just an abandoned house. I guess I’ll have to teach you a lesson on behalf of your mother.”

“You don’t know who you are talking to.” I know I’m not as strong as a full werewolf, but I can take this fox easily. My canines are already extended, and I extend my claws. My copper eyes glow as a double grey tail exposes itself. This is something foxes can de. We can partially shift better than wolves. This is the first time I have tried it with Kwan’s form. I think I’m getting the desired effect.

“What… what are you?” The fox stubbles back. “You shouldn’t exist. You are unnatural.”

Like, I don’t already know this. It’s something my father has never let me forget. Whatever at least she’s scared and might run away now. I growl deeply, fully exposing my canines. I really don’t want to hurt a fox, but I will if she doesn’t leave.

“Fine, take it this house is old anyway.” She scurries away.

I smile, looking at the hanok-style house that is a few thousand years old, but it is beautiful. It was my mother’s house for most of her life. Now it will be mine. I pick up my bundle. Before I go in, I need to clean up. I’m still covered in mud. I walk over to the steam that is near the house and clean off. I have soap but nothing else, no shampoo or a towel. The water was cold but felt like pure bliss. It didn’t matter that I didn’t have all the modern comforts; I was free to do as I pleased. I slipped on a pair of sandals and returned to the house, still naked but at least clean.

At long last, I step inside. The light is dim, only a few candles. I know where I want to go first. I go to my mother’s closet. I remove all the clothes from the other fox and find my mother’s in boxes. I move those till the closet is empty. I feel around the left side till I find a notch. I put my hand in the gap, and the wall catches and slides open. There it is, mother’s prized hanbok.

It's a beautiful red and yellow ramie fabric. It’s over a thousand years old. The jacket is yellow with red hibiscus embroidered all over and red ribbons. The Chima is still a vivid red after all this time. I know I shouldn’t, but I want to wear it just once. I reach out my hand to touch the beautiful but fragile fabric. This is the closest I will ever get to my mother.

I start to take the hanbok off the rack carefully, and I hear something. “Damn it is she coming back?”

“No, it sounds like it’s more than one, and they are much bigger than a fox.” Kwan focuses on our hearing. “Wolves are coming.”

“Damn it. We need to hide. I can’t let them drag me back.” I step into the closet and close it. I am hoping the overpowering scent of the other fox will throw them off.

I hear the door opening, and I can smell the overpowering smell of dirty dogs. Wait, one of them is my brother. Damn it; dad must know I ran away. Why did he look for me here? “There’s something else. Do you smell that? It smells like rain and spearmint mixed with something else.” I take a deep breath.

I hear footsteps rush to the closet door, and it’s ripped open. In front of me is the tallest, most attractive wolve I have ever seen. His sky-blue eyes smile at me, and Kwan starts screaming in my head, but I can’t even hear her. All my attention is on him.

“Mate.” His deep voice hits my ears. He’s speaking English. He holds out his hand for me to take. I reach to take it.

“Jieun, what are you doing here,” Yong-rae screams at me in Korean and grabs my arm, yanking me out of the closet and my daze.

I hear Kwan screaming now. She’s screaming “Mate” repeatedly. No, I can’t have a mate. No. I shake off my brother.

“Go to mate.” Kwan is screaming again. It’s so loud I can’t think.

“Hey, don’t touch her.” The beautiful man yells at Yong-rae, pulling him away from me.

“She’s not supposed to be here,” Yong-rea yells back and starts coming toward me. Then a third man comes in. Deep auburn hair and black eyes. He looks like a demon. I back up to the door.

Yong-rea tries to reach for me, but the auburn-haired man stops him. “Hey, James said don’t touch her.” His name is James.

“You don’t understand she’s a monster,” Yong-rea yells as he tries to break free from them.

That’s right. I’m a monster. I can’t have a mate. Why would the goddess give a half-breed like me a mate? I don’t want one. My heart is beating out of my chest, and I do the only thing I can think of, and that’s to run, but I can’t take another step. Kwan is stopping me. She’s stronger than I have ever felt her.

The man called James walks toward me again, and I push Kwan back with all my might, and I shift into my fox form. I’m a white blur as I run out of the house and back into the forest, but I’m being followed this time. Where do I go?