A/n: after some consideration I decided to go back in and make SeoHyun a submissive wolf as that is what her behavior has shown throughout the story thus far.
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SeoHyun didn't let anyone know she could hear what Bran was saying. She hadn't wanted them to know she was from North Korea but at the same time she was happy to have Bran take that responsibility out of her hands as she figured she would have to tell them eventually.
"SeoHyun come here." Charles said.
She approached Charles and stood so that he was between her, Bran and Sage as if he would or could protect her from the imagined threat they posed to her. This fact didn't go undetected by Bran who saw it as the first sign that he had made the right decision to suggest SeoHyun be fostered by Charles and Anna. She trusted them to keep her safe from harm.
"SeoHyun this is Sage." Bran said. He understood why SeoHyun was distrustful of them she had yet to learn to fully trust her instincts which should tell her to trust and submit to wolves as dominant as himself, Charles and Sage, also the abuse she had suffered at the hands of other dominants made her further question if she could safely submit to them. She was submissive by nature which made the fact that she survived all the more shocking, and the fact that she was so afraid to submit even more disheartening. He could tell her fear had Charles having to actively control his wolf in ways he normally didn't have to. That also reinforced the idea that Charles was a good choice to care for SeoHyun as he and brother wolf would make sure she was well protected and taken care of.
They took a few minutes to introduce themselves and get to know SeoHyun. She was hesitant but curious at the same time, she wanted to know things but she was afraid to ask because of how her old pack treated her.
"I'm scared… so… so much has changed… I do not understand what has happened." She said meekly her Korean accent thicker than usual.
"How long have you been a werewolf?" Bran asked.
"Almost two months, the coming full moon will be my second." she replied looking down in shame.
"There is nothing to be ashamed of little one, you should be proud, you survived, you are a beautiful young woman." Bran replied.
"But I want my parents!" she cried out and started out of the room in tears.
Anna started after her but Bran stopped her and went after SeoHyun himself. His son had claimed her as his daughter which, in a way, made her his granddaughter and he wanted her to know she could turn to him in times of need just as she could Charles.
"I know you miss your parents and we can never hope to replace them" he said as he embraced the tiny young werewolf in his arms. "We just want to help you, we care about you SeoHyun, let us take care of you."
She gave a token effort to push him away but then embraced him tightly and began to sob.
Charles came into the room with them. He heard SeoHyun sobbing and his father speaking softly to her, his words meant to be comforting. Brother wolf didn't like the sound of the younger wolf crying, he felt it was his job to take care of her and kill whoever made her cry, but he couldn't do that now as he had already done that.
"Da; is she…"
"She'll be okay; she's just overwhelmed and tired." Bran replied "She's mourning now, but she'll be okay in time."
Sage came in moments later.
"Are you sure she should leave here?" she asked.
Charles had placed a hand on SeoHyun's shoulder in an attempt to soothe her and she replied by putting her hand on his in search of the comfort of his touch and energy. She looked over at Sage.
"SeoHyun do you mind staying with Sage, it's just for tonight and she won't hurt you." Charles said.
SeoHyun wiped her eyes.
"Just for tonight…?" SeoHyun asked her accent still thicker than it had been earlier in the day when she wasn't so upset or exhausted.
"Yes, tomorrow you will come and live here." Charles assured her "I promise."
SeoHyun looked at Sage. Charles, Anna and Bran all seemed to trust her; did that mean she could trust her? Her instincts told her, yes, her wolf looked at Charles like a father and if he trusted Sage that meant she could though at the time all she really felt was some unnamed energy telling her she was safe with Charles and he wouldn't let her get hurt. She was quickly learning that she could trust those instincts not to lead her wrong.
"Okay, I think I'll be okay for tonight." She said "She seems like a nice person. I might even have fun" A tentative smile crossed SeoHyun's face.
Bran had let her stand on her own and as she finished speaking Sage came over and hugged her.
"You bet we will; we'll have a fun little pajama party if you want, I've got movies and snacks and what makes this fun is as werewolves we can eat whatever we want!" Sage said as she held the little teenage wolf in her arms.
SeoHyun began to laugh a bit at Sage's statement and Sage had a good feeling SeoHyun was going to be a good influence in Charles and Anna's lives.
Bran had a good feeling that Sage would also be a very good influence to keep in SeoHyun's life. The vibrant dominant female could teach her what Charles and Anna couldn't about being around dominant female werewolves as Anna was a omega and Charles, while dominant, didn't know what dominant females went through quite like Sage who lived it every day of her life.
"That sounds like it would be a lot of fun." She admitted.
Anna came in and told them that dinner was finished and they all ate in relative silence.
Bran pulled Sage aside as they were about to leave and informed her that she shouldn't be surprised if SeoHyun had really bad nightmares and Sage informed him that she would have been surprised if she didn't have nightmares after all she went through.
Sage opened the door to her house and let SeoHyun enter before her.
"If you go through there you will find my DVD collection, find something you want to watch and I'll get us some popcorn and snacks." Sage said as she pointed to a nearby door.
"Really…?" SeoHyun asked not used to being given so much freedom of choice. In her pack she wasn't even considered part of the pack, she had little protection from the other wolves, though she could tell many did nothing because they were under strict orders that they would be severely injured if they did anything. After the alpha and second died their orders became null and she noticed the wolves that stood by because they had to, were tripping over themselves to make up for the mistakes that were made. They hadn't wanted to let her go, but, at the same time, admitted that she needed to go, needed a fresh start that she could not get there. She needed people who would love and nourish her both mentally and physically along with teaching her to obey her submissive instincts. They saw her begin to relate positively to Charles and Anna Cornick and believed that they could be the catalyst to finally pull the tiny werewolf out of her shell.
"Yep… wait let's go change into our pajamas first get comfortable." Sage said "We're also going to look online and find the furniture to go in your new bedroom. Bran said Charles wants you to feel like that's your space and what better way to make it yours than to choose what goes in it." Sage started away and stopped suddenly "What is your favorite color, by the way?"
"Okay," SeoHyun replied, she was shocked by the amount of consideration and freedom she was being handed by the Marrok pack, her old pack never did this kind of thing for her. "And it is mint green, really I like most pastel colors, why?"
"Just curious, you can change in the guest room, that's the first door on your right" Sage replied cryptically then went to her room to change musing that she would likely have to just tell Anna what color SeoHyun had said specifically so she could show the guys because she doubted the men of the pack would know what 'mint green' was. She would also tell her that SeoHyun had said she liked pastels in general.
It didn't take them long to change and SeoHyun went to look through the movies as Sage made popcorn and gathered up some other snacks for their pajama party.
"Sage can we watch this?" SeoHyun asked holding up a copy of The Hunger Games. Sage wasn't sure why she had that film she had found the summary interesting but she had yet to actually break into it.
"Sure, I haven't watched it yet, let's watch it together."
"Could it be like the book of the same name?"
"I think so, why?"
"I have read the book, it was a really good, let's watch it."
Sage and SeoHyun watched the movie Sage thought this was a good film to show teen girls like SeoHyun that they can make a difference; she had heard about the rest of the series and thought that perhaps she should get SeoHyun the rest of the series once they come out. She could tell SeoHyun liked the books so getting that set was high on Sage's priority list.
"Do you want this movie?" Sage asked as she realized SeoHyun liked it a lot. "You can take that DVD home when you go tomorrow." Sage told her.
"Really, I can have it?" SeoHyun asked.
"Yes, you can have it."
"Thank you, Sage." SeoHyun threw her arms around Sage's neck.
"You're welcome, sweetie." Sage said with a laugh. "So you read the books, do you like to read?"
"Yes, I read a lot." She admitted "Why do you ask?"
"I just want to get to know you." Sage replied.
SeoHyun went to bed shortly after this and Sage called Bran.
"I just found out some things about SeoHyun we didn't know."
"What is that?" it was Charles' voice but she could tell he wasn't holding the phone.
"Well she's a Hunger Games fan for one." Sage replied "I say we set up a bookshelf or two in her room for her since I did some prying and she loves to read."
"Sounds good, and we have a good artist in the pack, we could see if they could paint the icon from the book on her wall, what is it called, a mockingjay?" Bran suggested looking to see if Charles would oppose.
"I think she'll love that, it might extend the time but if she likes it, Da it will be worth it." Charles agreed.
Bran had made the call and the human woman, Janie, who was the daughter of one of the local wolves, agreed and said that she could paint it up in a few hours.
The next morning came and Sage was surprised that SeoHyun had only a couple of nightmares during the night. She had feared that it would be a lot worse for the fourteen year old wolf. The only saving grace they got was that SeoHyun was brought to them during the early summer so they would have the entire summer to help her get control of her wolf before she had to start back to school in the fall.
Sage made breakfast and they ate then joined up with Anna outside of the house before getting into a vehicle and starting the drive to Missoula to shop.
"It's early in the year yet so we won't be getting the really warm stuff. All of that can wait until fall, but you need new clothes, this is a new beginning for you, we can worry about winter later." Sage said as they started their drive "I hear that winters back in California are warmer than they are here."
"Much warmer," Anna confirmed.
"Thank you for… taking care of me," SeoHyun said looking out the window.
"We're pack or will be soon, and that means we're all one big crazy family." Sage said dismissively as they arrived in Missoula.
Meanwhile Charles cleared out one room moving the contents either to another room or out of the house altogether. Sage had ordered furniture the night before so Tag and Bran picked that up early the next morning. He figured they would have the room finished by nightfall as Anna had picked out paint baised on SeoHyun's favorite color. Sage had assured him that SeoHyun had chosen the furniture. This meant that she would have something she could really call her own and might start to feel at home if she didn't feel that way already.
Anna and Sage weren't extremely surprised by the small size SeoHyun wore, she was one of the smallest werewolves they had ever seen in their lives. Bran and Charles had agreed as did Samuel when he heard about her from Bran. He had been shocked that a girl as young as her survived the Change.
"So who is she staying with, Da?" Samuel asked over the phone.
"Charles" Bran replied simply.
"You are talking about my brother, Charles, right?" Samuel asked.
"Yes, he and Anna formed a bond with her within a few minutes of rescuing her from her old pack. I will be bringing her into this pack either tonight or tomorrow morning, she needs to be part of the pack as soon as possible. She has never been part of a pack before this and it's about time that changed."
Samuel had to agree with Bran.
"Can you make it tomorrow so I can watch my niece join the pack." He asked half-jokingly. He was really glad that his brother was becoming more than an accountant and enforcer, he was getting the chance to experience what it meant to be a father. Samuel knew from personal experience that being a father could be a very rewarding job.
To Be Continued…
