Chapter Text
[Unedited]
*
"But I might have an idea of who could be behind this attack."
Taehyung stared at Yoongi. "Really? You do?" He had thought hard but he couldn't come up with a name.
Yet, it seemed his Beta had a name.
"Who is it?"
Taehyung took a wild guess. "Is it Victor?"
"What? No." Yoongi shook his head. "Victor is too much of a coward to try an attack on us...to try and attack me."
Taehyung frowned.
The only recent Alpha who had crossed paths with him and gone on Taehyung's bad side was Victor.
He was a filthy thug who made it his business to torture those who didn't follow his rules.
Taehyung wasn't one to involve himself in another pack's business. However, Caleb, one of Victor's pack members, who also happened to be Taehyung's childhood friend, had suffered under his hands.
If Taehyung hadn't planned a meeting with Caleb the day after Victor beat him up, he wouldn't have found out about it.
It was their traditional end-of-year meetup that Taehyung was looking forward to. They had started it as a means to keep in touch with each other after Caleb's graduation.
Taehyung sometimes wondered how the gentle, sweet Caleb had ended up in Victor's pack. They never really got about to discussing that particular situation. The only thing Caleb mentioned was that -
"I owe him."
"I owe Victor a lot. I can't tell you what happened, but know that it wasn't always this bad." His friend had said.
Taehyung hadn't questioned him again.
That day Caleb hadn't returned his calls nor replied to his messages. It made Taehyung worry for his friend.
It was unusual of Caleb to not meet up with him and the lack of contact had confirmed Taehyung's fear that something had happened.
An hour later Taehuung was knocking on Caleb's front door. When his friend opened the door and Taehyung saw Caleb's fractured hand, he lost hold on his anger and went in search of Victor. If it weren't for Yoongi and Jimin dragging him away from Victor's sullen face, Taehyung would have made sure the Alpha suffered through a dislocated jaw, broken nose, arm and a couple more injuries for his pack to see.
"If not Victor, then who? He's the only one I came close to beating to death last summer."
"No. I think... I think it's Philip." Yoongi said in a low voice.
"What? Uncle Philip? Really -" Taehyung hadn't heard from his uncle in years.
"Why? Why would he attack you?"
"I don't know." Yoongi said, the faraway look stayed in his eyes. "I had heard rumors about Philip, maybe... they are true."
"What do you mean?" Taehyung couldn't follow Yoongi's thoughts. "You know Uncle Philip was cast out of pack because of what he did."
"He knows better then to attack us now. And why would he take the help of the rogues?"
"That's the thing -" Yoongi turned to face Taehyung, and he didn't like the look on his Beta's face. It was solemn and held a hint of worry in it. "The rumors going around and trust me, I didn't want to believe them either, but after the way those rogues attacked me, I think ...they might be true."
"Ever since your father banished Philip, after finding out his involvement in smuggling drugs for humans, I had kept my ears open for any signs of resistance or maybe a planned attack on our pack." Yoongi explained. "Philip wasn't one to go down without a fight. The fact that he walked away like that, after your father called him out in front of the entire pack, it had to have made him mad. I thought maybe he was gathering arms and waiting for the right moment to strike. Maybe he was waiting for that time when we would be weak and then attack the pack as the rumors suggested. But -"
"But what ?"
Yoongi pushed his hand through his hair and sat back on the armchair, the relaxed posture was gone and tension thrummed through his body. "I waited for a year, and another year and more. Finally last year, I gave up on searching for him. I thought the man had left the state or fled the country because of the charges against him. I thought he was no threat to us now."
Taehyung didn't like the helplessness that crept into Yoongi's voice. Why was he like this? It was no fault of his, if Philip was back with a plan to attack them? Taehyung didn't even know Yoongi had been searching for his uncle all these years.
Now though, he wondered if all those secretive meetings with his father had something to do with this search for his uncle.
"I didn't think he would attack like this -" Yoongi was saying. "I didn't think he would be back after waiting for four years."
"It's not your fault."
"Yes it is." Yoongi turned away from Taehyung's glare, and the Alpha sighed.
"Look, we don't know yet." Taehyung tried to reason. "How can you be so sure that it's them? How can you be sure that the rogues and Uncle Philip are connected?"
"It's the way they fought." Yoongi said. "There were maybe nine or ten of them. I can't be sure. They wore masks and were fully clothed in black. At first there were only three of them, and Leo thought he would be able to get rid of them. But the moment they pulled out long knives, I knew they weren't just any rogues."
Taehyung could almost picture the scene in his head.
Rogues never moved together. They didn't work well under instructions. They never gave much thought to rules and hated the controlled systems that packs followed. Nine out of ten rogues would fight for food brought in by another, rather then hunt for a prey together.
Most rogues became lone assassins, contract killers or took up some random jobs to earn money.
Unlike the packs who had families running businesses within human lands, most rogues worked solo, only sometimes venturing into mainlands depending on situations. Sometimes they tried their hand at illegal money, wanting to earn the quicker way.
It never worked though. Someone usually found out, just like it happened with his uncle.
His father had made sure their chain of restaurants and the people working under them were honest and true to their work. If there was even a slightest chance of corruption, it was nipped in the bud, quick and swift and his father made sure the pack member knew the price of betrayal.
But...if what Yoongi said was true then-
"They were rogues who had become members of the pack and were moving under it's orders." Taehyung finished his Beta's thought.
Yoongi's nod confirmed it.
"Yes. I believe the Armand pack didn't know about this. These rogues convinced the Alpha that they were running alone and causing havoc with no goal in mind."
"You might be right." Taehyung straighten. If his uncle was back, they needed to let his father know about it.
"Where are you going?"
"Huh?" Taehyung looked at his Beta and then at himself. Unknowingly he had gotten out of his seat and had moved towards the door.
"You can't tell Greg, not yet." Yoongi said.
Sometimes his Beta was so good at reading Taehyung's mind, he hated it.
"Why not? If Philip is back, with a pack and has also joined hands with the rogues we need to let father know. Who knows what else uncle is planning?"
"No." Yoongi shook his head. "I still need to find out more about the rogues before we jump to conclusions."
Taehyung turned to face his Beta and folded his arms over his chest. He wasn't really thinking of-
"Don't tell me you plan to go back to the safe house?!"
"Yoongi! You almost died there!"
"Just hear me out." Yoongi's calm voice infuriate him further.
"Do you really believe they won't be waiting for you to come back? Do you think they won't be hiding in the shadows wanting you to come back and investigate?"
Uncle Philip hated them after everything that happened four years ago. Who's to say he won't be waiting to lead them to their deaths? Taehyung had thought of searching the area around the safe house himself, but he hadn't had the chance yet.
It didn't take a genius to guess that after attacking his Beta, Philip would come after Taehyung. With the two strongest contenders out of his uncle's way, the pack didn't stand a chance of surviving. His father alone wouldn't be able to fight the rogues and the enemy pack.
"If what you're saying is true, and Uncle is involved in this, it could have been an attack meant for me and instead they found you -"
Taehyung stopped, the words had jumped to his lips before he formed a clear thought.
Yoongi's face paled. He didn't meet Taehyung's eyes.
He didn't need a bond to know that Yoongi was shaken.
"You knew..." Taehyung whispered.
The guilt took on the form of a wave. Taehyung imagined it raising and raising above his head, threatening to drown him. "Damn you! Yoongi! You knew they were there for me!"
"You knew! And you fought to keep them from following?!"
"You're such an idiot." Taehyung said and sat down.
Yoongi was silent. He didn't say a word.
Taehyung hated his Beta right now. How was he so stupid at times?
"I thought... I thought it would be better to kill them rather then let them go back and inform your uncle about the failed attack."
Taehyung let out a dark chuckle. "Well, your plan failed didn't it? Instead of you killing them, those rogues turned you into their twisted punching bag and made sure to stab you as many times as possible."
"Yes."
Taehyung sighed and pressed his index finger and thumb to his forehead. The headache was back.
He had wanted to visit Yoongi and check on his well-being.
It had turned out to be a bad idea. The guilt he had wanted to get rid of, festered in his heart and there was no room to breath.
"I'm leaving." Taehyung said and got up, walking to the door.
"What? Wait!" Yoongi was at his side the next second, a hand on the doorknob, trying to stop him. "Where are you going?"
"Relax. I'm not going to tell father anything yet."
"That's not what I meant-" Yoongi started but Taehyung cut him off.
"I need some fresh air." He said and opened the door, stepping out.
"I'll come with you."
"No." Taehyung stopped him and took a step back. "I need to be alone, Yoongi. Just for an hour."
"But -" Yoongi looked at him, unsure and torn between his duties.
Taehyung's guilt rose to another level.
"Look, I'll be just around the corner." He said and pointed at the curve that took him back to his house. "I just need to collect my thoughts."
Yoongi stayed at the door as Taehyung took another step back. "One more thing -"
"Don't you dare tell Jimin about this." Taehyung said and Yoongi gave a slow nod. "He would throw a fit if he finds out I escaped his prison for a stroll in the woods."
"Don't worry." Yoongi gave him a smile, but it didn't reach his eyes.
Taehyung sighed and waved him goodbye.
Without another word, he turned his back to his Beta and walked away.
The guilt in his heart lessened as he took one step and another and another, away from the cabin.
He needed to sort out his thoughts before he returned home.
Even though his Beta had advised against it, he needed to decide on his own whether keeping his father in the dark was the best idea.
Was Uncle Philip really the culprit behind these attacks?
*