The Apex Shifter | BTS x Blackpink

Ch. 10 A Call Home

Even when Jennie saw the news of rogues going wild or attacking someone somewhere in the news on TV, she never called them monsters. She knew the reporters were always using exaggerated language to make the rogue shifters look more heartless and gruesome than they actually were. Grandma Maylee had taught her that. In their household, there was no excess hate, especially for something or someone that society has judged so quickly.

So, no, Jennie has never considered them monsters, no matter how brutal some deaths were. Grandma Maylee had told her it was not entirely the Shifter's fault for going rogue. It was the animal instinct that escaped the controlled hands of the human soul, escaped because of all the cruel pressures they were put under by humans.

Jennie had asked her Grandma how her mindset on Shifters could be so different than everybody else, and her old, kind guardian would always smile gently yet sadly, "Because these aged eyes have seen things. My aged mind has learned things, become wiser than all the other fools." But she never really explained further.

Thinking back to that, Jennie couldn't deal with the fact that she's been called a monster twice already, and she hasn't even done anything yet. Was this how closed-minded humans were? So quick to assume... and it scared her.

"No, I can't be," her voice was a shaky whisper as she hugged herself to stop her body from shaking. "I'm not a monster, I'm not a monster..." If she repeated it enough times, maybe this nightmare will end. She doesn't hate Shapeshifters, but she didn't want to be one either.

Not knowing about her past made her insecure enough, these recent events were just spearing fear into her soul. There was something unexplainable about how the word "monster" affected her, even her snow leopard inside was whimpering in distress, Jennie could feel it. "I'm not a monster, I'm not a monster," she kept repeating her mantra.

Cold fingers wrapped around both her wrists, forcibly tugging her out of her cowering, fetal position. Another tug and Jennie was forced to look at V's eyes, stormy gray-blue with passionate anger he was trying to suppress. "This is insulting to me more than it is to you. Stop calling the Angel's Gifts monsters." He dropped her wrists with an irritated scoff. "Ugh, for the love of Ariel, these humans are so obnoxious and clueless." Jennie didn't know if V was addressing said humans in general or if it also included her.

She wiped away the stray tears and straightened herself up, "I-I... I never considered Shapeshifters as monsters," she tried to justify herself, "my Grandma taught me not to hate something I don't know much about. But still... now that I am one, and I haven't even done... it scares me... to be called something I'm not."

"Well now you know how it feels," V responded with no sympathy. "Welcome to our world, cub. At least you can brush this off because you haven't done anything to make the name stick."

Again, V has made Jennie feel insignificant and selfish with her reactions, but she didn't blame him. In fact, she grudgingly needed that reminder. She has never faced the worst parts of this world. "I'm sorry," she said really softly.

"Jennie, you are not a monster," the change in his voice made her look over to him. His expression was still stern, but his voice was gentle. "I know because I've seen real monsters, both human and Shifter. Being predator shifters, it's easy for us to react negatively, so you have to learn to brush it off."

Jennie boldly asked him, "How do you do it?" He didn't answer right away, just stared into her eyes blankly, making her wonder what he was thinking. Backtracking away from the personal question, she said, "Does it make me weak if something this small effects me this badly? I just don't want to feel weak but I can't hide it sometimes, like just now."

Now that the question was once again reworded to avoid talking about himself, he answered right away, "It's only natural to be scared. What made you stop yourself before?"