Mated To My Alpha Stepbrother (A Sunwoo ff) ✓

Chapter Eighteen

˚₊໒🌙꒱Sunwoo₊˚

The sound of their silverware scraping against their plates dominated dinner. Mrs. Hajoon cleared her throat. "So, what do you have planned for the rogues, Sunwoo?"

"We're waiting it out right now. I think they all know one another, now I'm trying to keep ears close by to see if they're planning anything."

His dad nodded. "Good idea. It's strange they showed up so suddenly. Do you think it's another pack, maybe?"

He shrugged. "The first one we captured has a pack tattoo on his shoulder. We're going to try to see what pack, so I can get in touch with their alpha. Maybe I can find out why he was cast out."

Another silence settled over them.

SUnwoo glanced to his right where Jihyo sat eating her food quietly. Mrs. Hajoon met his stare and smiled. "Jihyo. I know you're interning and taking classes, but there is an opening for a midwife in the pack. We have several shewolves that are expecting-"

Jihyo's fork dropped. "Mom. If I've told you once, I've told you a million times, I don't want to be a midwife. I don't like blood or babies."

Sunwoo choked on his food and glared at her. "You don't like pups?"

Jihyo sighed and twirled her fork around her plate. "I don't like to see babies move in women's stomachs, it grosses me out. plus, they all look like little aliens when they're born."

"Jihyo," Mrs. Hajoon hissed. "For heaven's sake, you're almost twenty-five years old and you're still acting like a child."

Jihyo abruptly stood up and glanced down at Sunwoo. "Are you almost finished with dinner? I think I'd like that tour now."

Sunwoo saw the plea in her eyes and took one more bite. He was anything but finished, but he had enough food in the pack house to eat later. "Sure. Let's go. Thank you for the dinner, Mrs. Hajoon. It was great."

He didn't miss the upset look on her face, but Jihyo was halfway out of the backdoor. Sunwoo found her standing in the backyard, staring up at the moon.

"What was that about?" he asked from behind her.

She sighed loudly. "About my mother's ability to piss me off. She's always wanted me to be a midwife. The more I resisted, the more she pressed."

SHe turned and looked at him. "It doesn't matter. I'm not interested in becoming a midwife. So, where are we going on this tour?"

SUnwoo shoved his hands into his pockets and gestured towards the road. It was a dead-end, with family houses lining each side, all the way to the cul-de-sac. "This is where all the families live. Mated wolves. The single, unmated wolves live in the pack house."

She looked down at the road and stared at the forest at the end. "That is where we do our running. We go on a monthly run with all the pack, but anyone is free to shift and run whenever they please."

Jihyo seemed distant for a few moments.

"Do you miss it?" he asked.

"Miss what?" she replied in a whisper.

"Shifting. I didn't see a place where you could run in the city."

Jihyo looked down at her shoes, suddenly irritated that he asked. "I don't need to run much."

It was a lie, but he didn't press her. "Come on, I'll show you the conference room, and the infirmary."

Sunwoo took her around the pack house that seemed mostly vacant. Most of the wolves were in their rooms, or in the dining hall that Sunwoo avoided. He's show her in the morning before it was packed with shewolves.

Sunwoo led her out to the back of the pack house where a swimming pool and terrace sat. "This is pretty," she whispered. "Is this where you wanted to take a dip?"

He chuckled. "No. That's in the woods. Are you up for a run?"

She nodded quickly. Sunwoo tugged his t-shirt over his head and watched as Jihyo turned to strip out of her clothes. SUnwoo longed to turn her around, angle his mouth over hers, and out his wolf out of his misery, but he knew getting her here was step one.

Everything else would fall into place.

Jihyo shifted first. Her wolf was smaller than Sunwoo's, but he knew they would fit together nicely. Hse took off towards the woods not knowing the way, but trying to keep a distance between their wolves.

He didn't blame her.

His wolf was on the hunt.

He wanted Jihyo almost more than Sunwoo did- almost. Sunwo chased behind her, smelling her scent twirling in the air around him, luring him forward.

When she took a left, and they needed to take a right, he jumped in front of her and stopped.

She glanced up at him with big eyes.

He nudged her jaw with the top of his head and ran the opposite way. She chased after him as Sunwoo's wolf showed off, jumping over upturned trees, and large roots that grew up and then back into the ground.

Sunwoo stopped when they neared the pond, and shifted.

Jihyo shifted beside him.

Her dark hair hung loosely down her shoulder, her ivory eyes shifted towards his. "You swim here often? Are there river monsters that will bite my ass if I get in?

He chuckled and ran his fingers into his hair. "Nah. Nothing that isn't more scared of you. We swam here a lot when I was young. The dock," he said, pointing towards the corner, "We would see who could jump the farthest."

Jihyo nibbled on her bottom lip, and Sunwoo watched as she debated something in her head. "I bet I can jump farther than you."

"Yeah? I doubt it, but I'd love to see you try."

She started walking around the pond, glancing over her shoulder, SUnwoo's gaze lifted from her ass. "Not even trying to hide it, huh, Alpha? I was certain Mr. Jeongho taught you better than that."

Sunwoo smiled. "Mr. Jeongho taught me a lot of things, but he never prepared me for the uncontrollable lust that comes with finding your mate," he said behind her.

She walked onto the dock, her soft footsteps light on the old wood. "I don't think there is a way to describe the way your wolf reacts to their mate-"

Sunwoo grabbed her arm gently, and turned her to face him. "I'm not talking about my wolf, Jihyo."

Jihyo stared at him for several minutes, before pulling away and jumping halfway across the pond.

SUnwoo chuckled half-heartedly. "Don't cheat," he said when she came up to the surface. "If you move, I'll know."

She laughed. "I don't need to cheat."

Sunwoo jogged down the deck, jumped and soared over Jihyo's head, slicing through the water, he came up several feet away, realizing she'd moved around him. "I beat you," she lied.

"You're a dirty cheat," he laughed.

She shrugged, and laughed when he swam towards her. SUnwoo's leg brushed hers, and hse became still. "Was that a fish or you?"

"Me. You don't get that zap of electricity when I touch you?"

Jihyo's face turned red. "Yes," she said breathlessly. "I knew it was you."

Sunwoo fought the urge to touch her skin, make her feel the electricity that a mate bond formed inside.

Instead, he splashed water into her face, and she gawked at him.

"Oh yeah? That's how we're going to play it?"

She splashed him back, and he ducked under the water to get away. He loved that she was opening up a bit, and hopefully, he'd be able to gain her trust soon. Maybe hold her hand. or bend down and crush his mouth over hers.

Before his wolf combusted from the distance.