Beast, Blood, & Soul

* 10 *

I face the forest the next morning with a cup of coffee and contemplative eyes. I sip the dark brew as my mind races with questions. A bird of prey appears over the trees, circling. I hear the eagle scream to the sky as it flies, commander of all it sees. I watch it for a while, drinking slowly, thoughtfully. I look at each tree in the forest in my view and contemplate what I know so far.

They guard their identity, strictly.

They won't let anyone work for them longer than 10 years.

The animals with lavender eyes have an unusual amount of influence on this operation. There were seven of them. The seven men I met have animal natures. Is there a connection?

Despite V's implication that they aren't the owners, I'm convinced now that I did meet the Bangtan Group last night. Seven men who all have a vampire-ish sort of appearance. My breath speeds up a little bit as I consider how sexy they all looked. My body remembers being held in Jungkook's arms on the dancefloor and when he kissed my hand, I feel my libido kick in a little. My breath catches and I sip my drink trying to calm my body down. I can't forget the hot look in Jungkook's eyes as he stared at me on the dancefloor, as he chased after me in the forest, or when he begged for me, locked in the cage.

Oh my gosh. I close my eyes as I remember how it made me feel. I'm such a goner. Here I am, trying to rationally figure this out and my ovaries are trying to explode.

"I'm surprised to see you are up and about this morning. " A petulant voice sounds behind me. I roll my eyes before turning around to see Marcus pouting with a mean look in his eye. He turns from the open door and heads in to get himself some coffee and grabs a breakfast roll from the counter where our breakfast was served. I join them in the room and I sit down at the table as Marcus puts his head in his hands. Marcus appears to be sporting a hangover. I feel no sympathy for him.

"I guess no one caught your walk of shame this morning." The green-eyed monster of jealousy was staring at me from Mindy Park's green eyes.

"Do you think I had to?" I ask, surprised.

Before they could answer, Ceren joined us for breakfast. "Oh, give it a rest, Mindy. You're just jealous that a gorgeous man liked Y/N more than you." she gave an evil chuckle as she sat down to breakfast.

"You're not helping," I smile at her. I didn't need my coworkers thinking the worst of me.

"You ditched us for six gorgeous men last night. I don't owe you any favors," she grins back at me. We both laugh. "So, what happened?" she asks with a lot of innuendo in her tone.

"Um,..." I still hadn't thought up a good excuse for what happened last night.

"Oh no, you don't. You owe me details, girl." Ceren says seriously. I could see Mindy and Marcus both lean forward just a little.

I go for the out V gave me, "I just went for a walk in the woods," I wink at her. I hear a gasp from Mindy and Ceren hoots and slaps me on the back.

"I guess you're not as much of a nerd as I thought," she chuckles. A sneer shows up on Marcus's face. "OH, don't you even get started, Marcus." Ceren points her finger at him, "You are one step away from a sexual harassment lawsuit for how you get when you're drunk so you don't have any room to talk."

Marcus loses the sneer and quickly grabs his roll and leaves the table.

"Being easy doesn't make her special," Mindy replies before also leaving the table and the dorm. My mouth drops open staring at her departure.

"Don't mind her," Ceren waves her hand dismissively.

Maybe I should have found a different excuse. I wasn't easy despite how my body was reacting to this situation. I'd only had one boyfriend in college and even then, the sex wasn't anything earth-shattering. My first teen experience was short and disappointing. I never did get the point of one-night stands. A night of bad sex just didn't seem worth it for a stranger. However, I never responded to them as I did to Jungkook last night. I've heard people talk about how powerful lust could be, but until last night, I had never experienced it.