ʜɪꜱ ᴘʀᴇʏ || вαηg ¢нαη

Chapter 13: Hybrid-nation

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that," I sympathized with him. He gave me a little smile.

"It's alright. What were the other questions?" Jeongin now switched the topic.

"When did you get out of hibernation?" I asked him.

"I don't hibernate,"

"Wait what? Why?"

"Because I'm a hybrid. And besides, foxes don't hibernate,"

"Since when?"

"You're thinking of bears. Wolves don't hibernate either,"

It took me a while to understand. I've been living as a human for so long that I forgot what it's like to be a wolf. How am I supposed to return to my pack knowing that I've been basically abandoning them this entire time? They're all hybrids as well, so surely they'll understand. At this point, they've probably dissolved out.

"Oh crap. Alright, that'll make my life a little more difficult to explain, but it's okay. Why did you come here? How did you get here? When?"

Jeongin sighed. "I came after my parents died. I ran to get away, and found myself here. I've been in this area for a while now, about a month. I've been watching Collete since I first saw her. She's such an interesting person," An excited smile formed on his lips again as he continued. "Then I saw you and became really happy since it meant she took in strays,"

"I'm not a Stray, Kid."

"No, we're abandoned children,"

"What?"

"Never mind,"

I shook my head in confusion, backing up a bit away from Jeongin. When I looked back at him, he was sniffing me.

"Ah, what the hell!?" I shouted in shock. I know sniffing is a normal thing between us, but in human form it's just weird. The only time I'd sniff someone like that is if I had a legitimate reason.

"Sorry, you smell good. You smell... old, powerful, male, and..." He continued to sniff me. "... like Noona,"

"Who's Noona? You have a sister?" He nodded.

"Yeah, and I think you've been sleeping with her," My eyes widened.

"What!? I've never slept with anyone-"

"Collete,"

"Oh.... and no! I've never slept with her- I mean, not like that-"

"Like what?"

"You know... that,"

"I don't get it. Is there another way to sleep next to someone?"

"Oh! You mean next to her?"

"Yeah, what else would I mean?"

I hesitated. "Umm... nothing... just confused. Yes, I've slept next to her-"

"So you guys love each other? Why haven't you mated yet?" I felt my cheeks get warmer. Who is this kid?

"Well... I don't know. We're friends with... feelings? It's complicated. Why the hell am I explaining my love life to you?"

"I don't fricking know. You started this conversation," He answered. I mean, he had a point.

"So how old are you?" I asked him.

"Human, fox, or wolf?"

"Human,"

"About 15 or 16 I think,"

"Have you not been keeping track?"

"Was I supposed to?" This boy is the definition of the face palm emoji 🤦🏻‍♂

"No, you weren't. It's completely insignificant," I sarcastically answered.

"Oh thank goodness," He responded, sounding genuinely serious.

"If we don't get back on track, Jeongin..." My voice went deeper, shaking a little from pure rage. "I WILL STRANGLE YOU!" I lashed out now, growling at him.

He backed up, whimpering. "I'm sorry Hyung! I'll stop now!" Physical tears dripped from his eyes now. Watching as each tear fell from his face, a regretful feeling filled me. I must've actually scared him. What should I do? I don't want to seem weak, although leaving him like this just wasn't right.

A sign came from my mouth. Giving into my guilt, I pulled him close to me, hugging him tightly. "Shh, it's okay, it's okay. Hyung is here," He cried on my shoulder for a while, letting out all of his emotions. When he calmed down, I lifted his chin. "You're tired, come sleep," He nodded, seconds later shifting back into the collapsible little fox he was- quite literally- born to be.

I picked him up, heading over to the couch again. Laying down, he got out of my arms. Jeongin spun around a few times, making himself comfortable next to me, then curled up like a cat next to my face. Who thought an Alpha wolf would be sleeping next to a baby fox? Tsk, crazy.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When I woke up, I could feel a pair of eyes staring at me. Opening my eyes, a pair of large dark eyes stared back at me. I flinched, causing him to jump off of me.

"Ah! Jeongin!" I shouted, trying to calm my racing heart rate. Sitting up now, I looked over to him. He was smiling so slyly, it made me wonder why. Tracing his eyes, I turned around, only to see Collie standing behind me, smiling.

"Told you you'd warm up to him," She defended with a smirk on her face. I blushed.

"So he slept next to me? It means nothing," I protested, denying any feelings I had for him in an off sounding way.

She giggled. "Sure~" She went back into the kitchen. "So why Jeongin?"

I furrowed my brows. "Jeongin? What do you mean?"

"Why did you choose the name Jeongin? Is there a significant reason?"

Oh. She thinks that I named him that. So what do I tell her? I need to come up with something that won't blow his cover or mine. That's when the perfect lie came to mind.

"When I was younger, I had a friend who acted exactly like him named Jeongin. So, it was kind of out of habit," He awkwardly chuckled at my lie, making my way to the table to sit. For a split second, my eyes dashed between the Collete and the window. It was bright outside, rays of sunshine flooded into the house so angelically; looking at it for so long was starting to slowly blind me. It's hard to believe that nighttime passed so quickly.

"Wow," Collete retorted, "I didn't know you had friends,"

"Yeah," I said in a monotone voice, my eyes still glued to the light from the window. "I didn't either."

Collete audibly scoffed, a cute giggle following soon after.

I turned my head, only for my face to be met with Jeongin's eyes. Instantly, my body jumped in fear, my body falling from my chair after being knocked off guard by his large, shimmering eyes that stared deep into my soul. "God dammit, Baby Bread!" I cursed him.

Collie turned around to look at us. "What?"

"Your fox just scared the hell out of me,"

She sighed happily, turning back to look at the pan as she flipped the pancake with her favorite metal spatula. "Yeah, I figured he does that a lot,"

"You can say that again," I thought to myself. After finding out last night that he was a hybrid, life kind of took a toll on me. Don't get me wrong, this didn't mean I was going to start being all nice and lovey-dovey to him. At the end of the day, I'm still an Alpha, and I need to hurry the hell up getting back to my pack so I can play the role I've been unconsciously avoiding for so long.

There was a thought, however, that really bothered me. I resented it with every fiber of my being, even when I knew damn well, it was going to come true.

What will happen to Collie and Jeongin when I have to leave them?