1
The sky is colored bright orange and beautiful azure blue when they pull off the road. It's early in the morning and the ground is covered in morning frost, dead leaves crunching under Jimin's feet when he hops out of the car.
He puffs out clouds of white smoke and pulls the sleeves of his sweater down to cover his fingers before making his way to the edge of the forest. The trees all stand tens if not hundreds of meters taller than him, swallowing all the light and miles behind them stand the mountains Jimin calls home.
"Snowflake, are you ready to go?" a woman's voice calls behind him and with an amused chuckle, Jimin turns to look at his grandmother.
"Grandma, I've told you to stop calling me that, haven't I? I'm not a kid anymore."
The elderly woman grins brightly, a few grey strands of hair escaping her usually so tight bun to frame her round face. Jimin thinks that when she smiles like that, she's the prettiest woman he has ever seen—not even the lines of age can make her look less beautiful, not when her eyes glimmer with such genuine kindness and warmth.
"Ah, maybe you're not, Snowflake, but you're still as pretty as a one", Sohyeon says and Jimin laughs, cheeks turning a gentle shade of pink. He's not unfamiliar with compliments, especially when they're about his looks, but only his grandmother's sound truly genuine to him. Only her words make Jimin believe that he's actually pretty.
But before he can answer, maybe to refute her like he usually does, the light of the rising sun dims. Both glance up at the same time, noticing grey clouds coming towards the mountains and the forest from the north.
"Those look like storm clouds", Jimin mumbles, frowning ever so slightly. "It might start snowing soon."
"Already?" Sohyeon shakes her head as she locks the car and heads to Jimin's side. "Then we should hurry; the closer we get to our territory before snowfall, the better. And you know these old pawns don't run as fast as they used to."
The younger just chuckles. "You're plenty fast, grandma", he says, although he knows that Sohyeon is right. They need to hurry because if it does start snowing and if it's a heavy snowfall too, they could get lost on their way. And that would be bad, very bad.
There are other packs living all around them and right now, they're standing by the only road that does not belong to anyone—its single reason of existence is so the mountain wolfpacks can come down to visit the human cities from time to time.
The road that cuts through the forest, and at the same time holds two very hostile packs from killing each other, is their only safety. If they stray away from it, even a step, someone might come at them and although Jimin could probably get away alone, he can't leave his grandmother behind, that much is obvious.
He can hear her sigh under her breath, mumbling something Jimin can't quite catch, before flashing him a comforting smile. Two days ago, when they came down from the mountains, they had seen some other wolves hiding in the forest, keeping an eye on them and this time won't probably be any different—the chance of getting into a fight doesn't excite Jimin at all and he prays that they'll get through safely. Winter is coming, after all, and his pack is going to need them at home.
"Let's go then, Snowflake. There's no time to waste." And with that, his grandmother jumps towards the forest road and when her feet touch the ground again, there are four of them. Her pale skin has changed into grey and white fur, but the warmth of her chocolate brown eyes stays.
For a wolf and a beta, Sohyeon is quite small, but Jimin supposes that age has had its way with her, like it has with everyone. Though, age with him should make him bigger, for Jimin isn't much bigger than his grandmother even though he's a male wolf.
The grey wolf in front of him lets out a low sound, snapping its head towards the forest and Jimin laughs lightly.
"Alright, I'm changing, just wait a second", he says softly before taking off his coat.
If you change with your clothes on, of course they'll rip—Jimin knows his grandmother isn't worried about that because at home, they can just head straight to their cottage but Jimin doesn't want to ruin his one good coat—about the rest of his clothes he doesn't care, changing as soon as his coat is neatly placed on the ground.
Soon enough they have left the car far behind, entering their own beautiful, but dangerous, world.
The first snowfall comes early this year.
Jungkook wakes up to see the ground covered in a white blanket, soft snowflakes slowly falling from the clouded sky. He's not the first one to realize this as more people come out of their cozy cottages, wrapped in warm wool and eyes wide in disbelief.
"It's barely October", someone mumbles behind him and the young alpha turns back to gaze at his brother, Seokjin. The older man looks back at him with lips pressed into a tight line, worry written all over his face. "The winter is coming faster than last year and the year before that. We need to start preparing right away."
Jungkook agrees to that—if there's something they don't want to question, it's the winter's power. They live south from the dangerous mountains reaching up to the sky and unlike there, the land here is not always covered in pure white so their pack isn't as snow resistant.
With snow comes cold and with cold comes death. The plants will die, and their prey hide—children and the elderly will start getting sick and treating them will drastically weaken their pack—which is something they cannot afford. And although Jungkook knows they've been preparing for the winter for a good month already, they will still need to speed up things.
Southern wolfpack's weren't made to stand the cold unlike the northern wolves hiding in the mountains. His pack doesn't do well in the winter—and as one of the youngest and most powerful hunters, Jungkook must work extra hard to make sure most survive.
Of course, if things get extremely bad, they could always drive to the human cities... but lately even bringing up those pathetic beings has caused fights—inside and outside their pack. So, Jungkook doesn't really think that it's even a choice to rely on humans.
"Go to the hunter's hut. I'm sure the rest of the alphas are gathering as well, you need to be there to hear whatever the pack-leader has to say", his older brother then orders. "Tell me what's going on when you come back."
Understanding the urgency, Jungkook heads off immediately and Seokjin heads back inside their family's cottage.
It doesn't take long for Jungkook to stroll through the silent village, feeling worried gazes following his every step. The first snow always lays a tense blanket over their pack and the young alpha feels like it's much worse this year than the last—their healer had even predicted something like this, he then remembers.
The snow will keep coming earlier every year and unless they want to become like the cold packs of the north, they should move to a new place, that's what she said. Move south, far away from the mountains, maybe even beyond the great ocean Jungkook knows lies somewhere behind the near endless forests, behind the human cities.
But no one, not even Jungkook himself who understands the danger of snow all too well, wants to move. They've been living in that specific area for hundreds of years now—they can't and shouldn't move just because of the threat of winter.
The hunter's hut, a place where most pack meetings are held, is already crowded with every alpha and battle-qualified beta in their pack when Jungkook reaches it. A few of the older alphas he passes are talking about hunting and other packs; a grim reminder to Jungkook that when winter comes, packs usually grow more hostile too and that leads to fights that don't necessarily even need to happen.
Luckily to them, there's only one pack that lives close enough to be a problem. If they would move further to south, there'd probably be more packs to be worried about. And since mountain wolves don't really even come down from there, they aren't really a concern.
"Jungkook, over here!" a familiar voice calls his name.
Jungkook lifts his gaze up to see Taehyung, his best friend, and Yoongi, a slightly older alpha, standing not too far away from him. Relieved to see someone he knows better, the young alpha heads straight to them.
He greets Yoongi with a polite bow which to the older alpha just nods before excusing himself, saying that he needs to look for the pack-leader's son.
"What are you doing here, Tae?" Jungkook turns to ask from his friend who just sheepishly shrugs his shoulders.
"You know there are no alphas in my family, so I volunteered to come and see what's going to happen."
His best friend is an omega, one of the prettiest in their pack, and the hunter's hut is definitely not Taehyung's usual hangout spot. Although Jungkook knows that his friend is more than simply capable when it comes to hunting or fighting in general, Taehyung much rather spends his time taking care of pups or the elderly.
But he's right—Taehyung's alpha father passed away a few years ago and only he and his mother are left, so sometimes when news only pass through the pack's alphas, the two are left out. Though, Jungkook tries to make an extra-effort to always include them.
"I could've come to tell you", he says but Taehyung just brushes it off.
"Kook, it's fine. I want to see what's going on with my own two eyes, okay?" His friend gives him a small, reassuring smile and Jungkook nods understandingly, offering a smile back.
However, the worry over Taehyung doesn't just disappear—although times are definitely changing, it is still frowned upon if omegas try to get too involved when it comes to hunting or leading a pack. And Jungkook is well-aware that there are guys like that in his pack too, mostly the older alphas and betas—even some omegas themselves.
"What were you and Yoongi talking about, by the way?" he asks after a moment of silence between them, curiously looking around if the older alpha is anywhere to be seen. But no, because of his surprisingly short stature, Yoongi easily disappears into the crowd of buff and tall men (not that being short makes Yoongi any less scary).
"Oh, he was just telling me about the two mountain wolves passing by today", Taehyung answers casually—as if that would happen every day.
"Mountain wolves?" Jungkook looks around again, eyes wide. "Here?"
His friend chuckles, weakly punching him in the arm. "Don't be ridiculous, Jungkook. I didn't mean here, as in here here—I meant that they'll be passing our territory sometime today. You know, through that road back towards the mountains."
"Oh yeah, I heard about that too. I think I saw a glimpse of them when they were heading out", the young alpha remembers. He had been out with a couple of other alphas two days ago looking for food and had accidentally gone quite close to the road splitting two packs apart, when he saw something grey and white—something that doesn't belong to the forest.
And neither did the cold scent of snow and the sweet scent of what Jungkook thinks is some type of honeysuckle.
"Did you see them? I have never even once seen a mountain wolf, but I hear they're as white as snow, so they could blend into their territory. Oh—and that they're also pretty vicious. Do you think that's true or are the elders just joking around?" Taehyung asks in an excited tone.
"I don't think they're any more vicious than us", Jungkook just responds because really, he doesn't know the right answer. He has never been face to face with a mountain wolf before and two days ago he saw just a glimpse of white—that doesn't really mean anything, now does it?
"Well, our pack is quite vicious", his best friend mumbles to that, glancing around the crowd.
To that, Jungkook can do nothing but agree. Sometimes it feels like their pack lives to fight and conquer new territories, so they take a lot of pride in being known as one of the more hostile packs—it makes scaring wolves and protecting the pack a little easier.
But lately, thanks to the pack-leader being sick, there hasn't been much fighting. There has been an unfortunate rumor about the head-alpha being down with something deathly and it has made everyone restless.
Sure, the head-alpha has a capable alpha son who can take over once she passes away, but the whole process of earning the pack's trust—and right before winter too—is a whole another thing Jungkook would rather not go through right now. He just hopes that their pack-leader will be up and going soon, again.
And as if on cue, the pack-leader's son makes an appearance. Kim Namjoon's low voice booms over the hunter's hut, silencing any other conversation and demanding attention.
"Now that it seems like everyone has gathered, I think we can start discussing our plans for the future", the tall alpha says, standing on a little high ground so everyone could hear and see him better.
Yoongi, as his somewhat right-hand man, stands behind him, eyes closed and mouth pressed into a tight line, much like Seokjin's earlier—it's an obvious sign of worry and Jungkook can feel his stomach make an uncomfortable flip. Obviously, they're not going to receive any good news.
"As we have all noticed, the first snow has landed. And that is an obvious sign of the closing winter—which also means that we need to speed up the preparations. I have already gathered a small team to head to the closest human city to buy medicine and more warm clothes", Namjoon continues, giving the crowd a long look.
There are some disapproving murmurs, both Jungkook and Taehyung notice that, but it doesn't seem like anyone is going to step up to actually complain—they all know Namjoon is just doing what's best for the pack and being cautious about stuff like medicine is never bad. Jungkook thinks that as long as they don't go visiting humans weekly everything will be fine.
"From now on, preparing for the winter is our top priority. That means putting food and wood gathering above everything else, including fights with other packs. They'll be busy doing the same as we, so picking useless fights is forbidden."
Namjoon turns to motion Yoongi to come closer, not waiting for any kind of protests—probably because no protests are allowed and the pack-leader's son can be pretty intimidating when he wants (Jungkook experienced Namjoon's anger once when he and Taehyung did a small night stroll and ended up in another pack's territory).
"Yoongi and Yunho, who's not here right now, oversee the hunters. Changmin and two others will be in charge of gathering dry wood and making sure we have a good-enough shelter to keep our supplies in. I will personally be helping anyone in need here at the village, but I will also occasionally check on the other teams."
Namjoon then smiles reassuringly, patting Yoongi on the shoulder at the same time. "Remember, a well-fed pack is also a strong pack. Always put your pack ahead of yourself."
And it's that single thought that keeps them together despite their differences, Jungkook knows.
He, naturally, gets assigned to be a hunter which Jungkook is thankful for—that is what he's good at, aside fighting. Of course Yoongi warns him that he will be switching teams at some point, so everyone will get fair treatment.
As soon as Jungkook has delivered his brother the news, he's ushered towards the main entrance of their village where his team of hunters is waiting. Together with him are coming not only Yoongi, but Yugyeom and Jaebum, both young and capable alphas. Looking at them, Jungkook's more than sure that they'll do good.
"Ready to go?" Yoongi asks, already starting to strip out of his clothes. Nudity in their pack is not by any means, a problem. Of course, no one walks around naked, but unless they want to always destroy their clothes, stripping it is.
Jungkook nods alongside the two other alphas and follows their lead then, throwing off his clothes before quickly changing forms.
Despite being the youngest alongside with Yugyeom, they're both the biggest within the four. Jungkook has grown a lot in the past two years, gaining noticeably more muscle and strength. Yugyeom is a little bigger than he but much slimmer, for his body was practically made for hunting while Jungkook was made to fight and protect.
They head off right away, disappearing amongst tall trees. Jungkook notes how most of the plants have already dropped their leaves, the ground covered in vibrant colors of orange, brown and yellow—it's beautiful, but also a bad omen.
Yoongi splits them up soon, ordering Jaebum to take Yugyeom towards the river close by while he and Jungkook head closer to the end of their territory.
"You heard about the mountain wolves, didn't you?" the black wolf asks, glancing back at Jungkook with his piercing grey eyes flashing. The younger wolf just dumbly nods and Yoongi turns his gaze away.
"Well, they should be passing around this time, so let's stay close to the road in case something happens."
"Hyung, they wouldn't come here, now would they?" Jungkook asks.
"No, not on their own." And Yoongi leaves it like that, not caring to discuss his words any further—but Jungkook is pretty sure he knows what the older alpha means.
The two of them separate ways soon too, agreeing to meet in an hour or so at their separating point, hopefully with prey. Jungkook bounces into move immediately, his muscles screaming in joy when he can finally shake off the frost seeping up his paws.
Blending into the brown and orange quite well thanks to his warm-colored fur, that is a mixture of light and darker browns, Jungkook lets himself go for a moment, his instincts taking over. He allows his consciousness to completely blend with his wolf, letting the beast in him guide him through the forest and towards his prey.
It's a feeling like no other, when you're able to set yourself free, even if it's just for a short moment. Jungkook has always been a free-spirited alpha and it truly shows when he's released into the wild—his mother used to tell him that he was like a kid with a sugar-rush whenever he had been allowed to leave the village area as a younger wolf.
Well, it's safe to say that Jungkook hasn't changed all that much from those times.
Before he even knows, he's been able to catch two rabbits. But right away, the young alpha takes note of how the prey has gotten lighter—under all the fluffy fur isn't all that much meat, only skin and bones, and it'll only get worse when the cold fully settles on their territory.
Huffing, he picks up the two rabbits and is about to turn away to go and hide them, when the scent of iron mixed with honeysuckle reaches his nose.
Jungkook freezes, both ears and his tail jumping high. The scent of blood and flowers is quickly followed by noises, angry growls and whimpers.
Is someone fighting...? He wonders, thinking for a second that maybe Jaebum and Yugyeom ran into another team and got into an argument—but the more he listens, the quicker he realizes that whatever is going on, it doesn't sound like some friendly brawling.
No—this sounds like an actual fight. And it's coming from the direction of the road which belongs to no one.
Without even thinking what he's doing, Jungkook drops the rabbits and turns into the exact opposite direction he should be going. He's not even sure if the fighting is happening in their land—but he needs to check it, it's in his instincts to protect what he considers his.
The sounds of fighting are suddenly cut off and feeling himself panic at that, Jungkook speeds up even more. He can't help but think that one of his friends might've been attacked by the pack from across the road or maybe it's even Yoongi—and silence doesn't usually indicate anything good, so his worry only grows when the growls stop and the scent of iron gets stronger.
He sees the road soon and without even stopping to consider that it might be a trap, Jungkook charges forward. But as soon as his paws come in touch with ground that isn't his pack's—ground that shouldn't belong to anyone—he freezes, breathing heavily.
There's blood on the ground, a lot of it and judging by the warmth of it, it's still fresh. He can smell disgusting iron stronger than anything else, but the scent of something cold and fresh, and alluring honeysuckle, are still there, laced amongst the scent of blood.
Jungkook leans down and takes a deep breath in, searching for familiar scents—but then he hears a rustle from close by, from his pack's side of the road. Head and tails perking up immediately, Jungkook turns his glowing golden eyes at the direction of the sound and right away, the scent of honeysuckle grows stronger, mixed with fear.
Growling low in his throat, the brown alpha makes his way towards the source of the sound slowly, staying low in case someone would try to surprise him.
The beast inside of him easily recognizes that there's an intruder, for no one in Jungkook's pack smells like honeysuckles with a flicker of fresh mint and something cold he can't name. But his alpha side doesn't show signs of anger, that's Jungkook's rational side telling him to prepare for a fight—no, the alpha in him is enamored by the new scent.
It feels like the sweet scent of honeysuckles would be luring him in. The scent alone seems to tug at something in his heart, leaving his alpha feeling somewhat drowsy and fulfilled.
Jungkook has never felt anything like this and it scares him.
Pushing through some frail bushes, the brown alpha finally comes face to face with whatever caused the noise. And it's not just something—it's two wolves, or one wolf and one wolf-turned-human.
There, at the root of a young pine, sits a pale boy covered only in a thin coat with a bloodied wolf lying next to him.
Jungkook freezes and his golden eyes meet a pair of fearful ones, glimmering with angry and desperate tears—at least that's what Jungkook thinks they are, considering the situation.
As soon as the boy spots him, a low growl rumbles out of his chest, the other baring his teeth and obviously preparing to change forms. But the alpha knows he can't—there's blood trickling down from under the sleeves of his coat and although the boy has tightly wrapped the garment over himself, it's not hard to see that he's wounded. He probably doesn't even have the energy to stand up, let alone change forms.
That doesn't mean the pale boy won't try, stubbornly growling and searching for something—anything—to defend himself and the other wolf with. He only finds small rocks and sticks, and although he does throw them at Jungkook, they don't have any effect. The alpha doesn't budge.
"Go away", the boy then speaks, turning his furiously flaming eyes on the alpha again, staring him down despite the situation. His voice is barely audible but melodious nonetheless, and it throws Jungkook off for a moment.
He sounds like the rivers flooding from the mountains, cold in their own way but lively, strong, and beautiful—he sounds as if he's singing a song no one else can ever learn, no one else knows the melody to.
"I said, go away", the boy growls again, throwing a rock at Jungkook, but it stops even before hitting him. He can see that the other is starting to sway in a way that indicates he's about to lose consciousness.
The alpha takes in a careful breath, the scent of honeysuckles, fear and anger almost making him choke—it's so goddamn strong and all of it is coming from the pale boy a few meters away from him.
One navy blue eye and one honey yellow eye, both warily watching Jungkook's every move, but the alpha can barely even breathe. Those heterochromic eyes and that sweet honeysuckle scent have him locked in place. It's like he could see the whole universe in the other eye while the other is warm like fire, and Jungkook can't stop staring.
He has never seen an omega like this.
It's obvious that the pale boy has noticed that something is wrong, for he stops throwing rocks at Jungkook and only stares back with clear hatred in his eyes and muscles still tense. His platinum blonde hair is covered in dirt and blood, even a few leaves sticking to the long locks. And yet he looks beautiful in Jungkook's eyes.
And the single thought of that, only admitting that simple fact, makes the alpha recoil in anger—disgust.
It's a mountain wolf, he has noticed, because only mountain wolves could have skin that fair, and fur the color of grey mountains and white snow—the boy can only be a mountain wolf, the cold scent stuck on him the scent of his cold, vicious pack.
And mountain wolves do not belong to the forest.
The change in the atmosphere is obvious, the boy's heterochromic eyes flashing in warning as he becomes defensive again.
"Go away, alpha", the other wolf hisses, desperately searching for another rock—only there's none close to him and they both know that no matter what, Jungkook will be the one to walk away unharmed. "Leave us alone!"
"The other one is already dead." Jungkook barks out an answer the boy can't understand in his human form. He's pretty sure the other knows it too, though, just doesn't want to admit that he's alone now—so close to getting home but still too far away, on strange land and in the mercy of a wolf whose territory he has—accidentally or not, Jungkook doesn't care because it's not his place—invaded.
He growls back at the pale omega, the vibrations running through his chest and the other visibly flinches at that. It's the first threatening sound Jungkook has let out, even to his own surprise.
Quickly regaining his composure, the boy tries his best to sit up straighter, leaning over the other wolf in a protective matter. His heterochromic eyes continue to glare daggers at Jungkook who has taken a couple of steps closer, his shadow already looming over the omega's dirty little feet.
"Stay away", the melodic voice comes again, this time a little weaker but laced with anger, something Jungkook must admire in the other. The omega looks pitiful, he's wounded and weak—yet, he's still trying to fight back.
"D-don't come any closer, a-alpha, or I'll—"
"You'll what?" Jungkook snarls despite knowing fully well that he can't be understood.
The brown alpha isn't into hurting injured omegas, or omegas to begin with, but he knows he should at least drive this one away from his pack's territory. That's just how things go in their world—Jungkook has to make sure nothing threatens his pack.
But is he a threat? his alpha questions and Jungkook stops moving, standing now only a few steps away from the pale boy and his seemingly dead companion.
Is this pathetic little omega really a threat?
No.
To be completely honest, Jungkook knows that the boy in front of him is not a threat. He wouldn't be even able to hurt a pup.
But that doesn't mean the brown alpha should allow the omega to stay.
His hesitation doesn't go unnoticed by the pale boy who—probably out of pure stubbornness—manages to change forms and in a blink of an eye, there's a small white wolf growling at Jungkook. It surprises the alpha, who takes a full step back before being able to regain his composure and turn his narrowed eyes back at the omega.
"Go away", the omega growls at him right away, bristling furiously. "Leave us the fuck alone!"
"This is my pack's territory", Jungkook says back matter-of-factly, finally being able to speak with the other. "You need to leave."
But the alpha knows, he can see it clearly, that the omega isn't capable of leaving anywhere. He could probably wonder back to the road by himself, but firstly, that would mean leaving behind his companion's body and secondly, it's not like he'll get far. Jungkook is pretty sure that the white wolf will drop dead before sunset if he doesn't get himself checked. And listening to his shallow breathing, it might be possible that he has a broken rib or two—and Jungkook has experience of that, it definitely hurts like a bitch.
Something in his gut twists at the thought of that, of the thought of the omega being in pain—but Jungkook shoves that feeling back down to wherever it came from.
The white wolf seems a little taken aback by Jungkook answer and hesitates.
"I'll leave", he then says a moment later. "I'll leave, but let me please rest a moment—"
"No, you need to go now", Jungkook cuts in.
The heterochromic eyes flash in annoyance. "I just need to rest for a moment, so I can carry her back home with me." The wolf nods towards his companion's body. "Is that too much to ask for?"
"Yes, it is when you're in my territory! And if anyone else finds you here, they'll kill you without a second thought!"
That silences them both—the omega goes silent probably because he realizes that Jungkook is right, and Jungkook goes silent because what he just said seems to indicate that he cares whether the other gets killed or not. Like he'd want him to get away.
"That doesn't matter", the omega says then, his tone becoming both sad and accepting. "I know I won't make it. But I won't leave her behind, no matter what."
Jungkook is so surprised by the sudden change of nature that he stops breathing for a moment—and when he does snap out of it, maybe just seconds later, maybe minutes, something comes colliding on the white wolf from behind.
"Jaebum!" the brown alpha says in surprise, seeing the older alpha wrestle the omega down on the ground. Yoongi and Yugyeom are close behind, the eldest of the four turning to Jungkook with furiously glimmering grey eyes.
"What the fuck are you doing, Jungkook?!" Yoongi growls, looking ready to bite off Jungkook's ear. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
"N-no, hyung he wasn't going to—"
"Shut up", the pitch-black wolf snarls in a tone that demands submission. "Mountain wolves cannot be trusted, you know that, Jungkook—"
"Big words, forest wolf", comes the omega's voice, strained but still as furious as ever. Jungkook finds himself feeling relieved when he hears that hateful tone and he turns his gaze back on the white wolf who is securely pinned down on the ground by Jaebum's big pawns.
The omega's heterochromic eyes are once again shining with defiance and fire, his lips curled into a sneer. "You're the ones who can't even hold onto a simple rule of the road not belonging to anyone. Don't you even dare to talk to me about trust."
So, it is true then. Someone from the other pack attacked the mountain wolves, killed the other and drove them to Jungkook's pack's side of the forest.
Yoongi lets out a low growl and Jaebum presses the omega harder on the ground, but neither of the two alphas try to deny the mountain wolf's words—they all know he's not lying. It wouldn't be the first time the pack on the other side tries to cause trouble between the forest wolves and mountain wolves.
This, however, is much worse than anything they've done before. And judging by everything, they're trying to make it seem like it was Jungkook's pack's doing.
"Hyung", he steps up again despite Yoongi sending him a nasty glare. "We should let him go. He needs to return to his pack or the blame for their deaths will be on us."
"He won't even make it to the mountains", the black wolf spits out angrily. "And they both smell like us, so their pack will come for our blood. Either way, the blame is already on us."
So, pretty much, it doesn't matter whether they kill the mountain wolf here or not. That's how Jungkook understands it and for some pretty fucking weird reason, his whole being hates the thought of that.
He even dares to bristle at Yoongi. "Well, we can't just do nothing! We could take him back to the village and heal him, so he can go back to his own pack and—"
"Do you even fucking hear yourself, Jungkook? Take him back to the village, to the heart of our territory—do you have any idea how reckless that would be?" Jungkook wants to argue against the black wolf, but Yoongi gives him no chance for that. "And what happens once we've healed him? What happens, once he has happily eaten our food, stayed in our home, dirtied it with his blood and scent—what then, Jungkook?"
"He—"
"He's going to go back to his pack, tell them all about our weaknesses and then they'll come running to us, that's what will happen. Then they'll know exactly where to find us, to hit where it hurts the most and you, you'd be the fault of all that."
"Yoongi", Jaebum lets out a warning sound, noticing how the black wolf is close to losing his composure completely.
Understanding that losing his cool in front of an enemy wolf isn't the best for their reputation, the eldest alpha just grumbles under his breath, sending Jungkook one last warning glare before turning back to the problem at hand. His dull grey eyes rake over the dead mountain wolf, disgust very apparent on his features.
"It's an old one", he mumbles. "No wonder it died."
"She", Jungkook corrects quietly, immediately regretting it, but luckily it doesn't seem like Yoongi even heard.
"Hey", Yugyeom suddenly speaks for the first time. "The other one—he's not dead too, is he?"
All their gazes turn towards the omega, who truly has stopped moving under Jaebum and is now just lying on the ground with eyes closed and for a short moment, Jungkook fears—actually fears—that he has passed away.
But Jaebum quickly confirms that no, the omega is still weakly breathing, but it won't take long until he'll stop doing that.
"Yoongi", the alpha then says. "We need to decide quickly what we do. Either we leave them, preferably somewhere by the road, or take him to the pack like Jungkook suggested and bury the dead one."
"Jaebum", Yoongi says in a warning tone, annoyance coming back tenfold, but the other alpha just continues calmly, staying as the only rational one of them.
"No—listen to me now, Yoongi. Jungkook is right, we can't exactly leave things as they are. I'm giving you two choices. Kill the mountain wolf or take him back to the pack."
Jaebum's and Yoongi's eyes meet in a heated battle of dominance, which Yoongi should win—but Jungkook knows the black wolf is soft from the heart and killing needlessly has never been his favorite thing.
So, he's not all too surprised when Yoongi is the first one to look away, sighing in annoyance.
"Fine", the pitch-black wolf growls, already turning around. "Fine. Bring the omega with you—but Jungkook will be the one to carry him, since it was his suggestion. Yugyeom, you carry the dead one. And do not even for a second think that I'm going to defend you when Namjoon comes for your ass, brat."
Yoongi sends Jungkook a dark glare and then bounces into move, disappearing between trees and bushes faster than the young alphas has ever seen him do.
"He doesn't mean it", Jaebum says softly, nudging Jungkook weakly on the cheek as he walks past to help Yugyeom to haul the dead wolf on his back. "You know Yoongi is just bad at expressing his real feelings and that he's really just overprotective of his own."
Jungkook knows and he has the audacity to look a little apologetic for causing so much trouble—but really, is it even his fault? It's not like he drove the omega to their side of the road.
"C'mon, we should hurry after him. Jungkook, grab the omega and let's go", Jaebum calls out for him, motioning them to head back home with his head. Yugyeom and he are ready to go already, the old female wolf on the younger alpha's back.
The brown alpha nods, heading towards the omega's motionless body and right away, the scent of honeysuckles invades his senses again. It smells good, so disturbingly good, and Jungkook can't quite understand it because he has smelled omegas before—for god's sake, his best friend is an omega. But even Taehyung doesn't smell this good to him—so good that Jungkook fears he has become addicted already.
He leans down to pick the omega's lithe body up, feeling something odd spark inside his heart when they touch—but the feeling is gone as soon as he thinks about what he has done. He can't help but fear that he has just accidentally doomed the white wolf into something worse than death. His pack can, after all, be quite vicious and outsiders are never welcome.
"I'm sorry", Jungkook whispers against the omega's soft fur, but he knows apologies won't be enough, the damage is already done.
Maybe not by him, but he's definitely going to be the one paying for the consequences right alongside the white wolf.
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