Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Who the fuck are you?”, Jaebum asked with his chest puffed out, his tone low and threatening, as the doctors and the few members who could walk helped the injured ones to go back into the hamlet.

“The heir, you could say”, Namjoon recognized him immediately, with the easiness of someone who had been thinking about that night over and over again. It was the infuriating beta, the one with a sharp glare and messy hair, the one who had hit him on the head with a rock before scrambling away.

“Of what? That disgusting pack of zombies?”, Hyojung sneered, eyeing the men that were standing near the young guy, like a shield of bodyguards. It was obvious there were more waiting just outside of the blue door, “You sure are full of yourself, you bastard”.

The beta snorted, tilting his head slightly to the right, “Daeng”, he said as if it’d been the wrong answer, some of the men started to crouch down, bodies shaping into their wolf forms as the beta coldly smirked at them, “I’m the heir of this place”, he remarked, his eyes meeting Jaebum’s before raising both arms, like a person about to be crucified, “And I’m gonna reclaim it now”.

And suddenly, a wave of converted werewolves jumped at them with growls and huffs, dazed by the aggression pumped into their veins. Namjoon cursed because there were barely a dozen of pack members who could still fight, some of them already transformed into their wolf form and colliding against the enemy like strong rocks on the beach.

“Jaebum, we’re gonna lose if we-”, Namjoon groaned in frustration when the Head Alpha started to walk toward the beta, ignoring completely the chaos that broke inside the cabin. Grabbing the other to stop him, Namjoon yelled in panic, “Listen to me! At this rate, we’re gonna lose”.

Jaebum clenched his jaw, pulling his glare of the beta and directing it toward Namjoon, “I don’t expect you to understand but I can’t sit still while my family is spilling his blood like this”, Jaebum said, venom in his voice as he pushed Namjoon’s hands off his shoulder, “I gotta protect them”.

And before Namjoon could protest again, the man jumped into his wolf form and joined the river of snapping teeth and bloody claws. He sighed, rubbing his face. Namjoon didn’t like to fight lost battles and this one certainly was. Looking around in despair, he found Yugyeom still standing next to him, unsure of who to follow. Namjoon grabbed the younger’s wrist, pulling him back toward the hamlet.

“You need to find Jungkook. I’m sure as hell that beta wants him back”, Namjoon began to say, searching in his pocket for his phone and putting it in Yugyeom’s hand, “Call Jackson, inform him of everything and make sure he brings as many people as he can”, nibbling his lip, Namjoon hesitated just a bit before adding, “Call the first contact on the list after”.

Namjoon turned around, taking off his jacket and throwing it to the side before jumping back into the cabin, turning into his wolf and letting Yugyeom take care of it. He might not make a big difference but abandoning them for a second time seemed too bitter to him. Namjoon wasn’t the same pup he was from years ago. The sight of the injured wolves bleeding and dying on the soil was enough to reassure Namjoon that he couldn’t escape now, not again.

***

“Jimin-ah, call me pessimistic but I don’t really think that was Jungkook”, Jin huffed out between gasps of air, running behind Jimin in a very vague direction. The howling had been repeated a couple of times and they knew now that it came from the path Jin had used to get to his dongsaeng, which made everything riskier.

“Hyung, if there’s a chance of that being Kookie”, Jimin said, panting while dodging roots and branches as fast as his tired body and dizzy mind would allow him, “I’m gonna fucking take it”.

The sound had been getting closer but Jin’s stomach felt knotted, the idea of encountering a couple of converted werewolves getting him all queasy, especially because he wasn’t exactly prepared for a confrontation like that. From Jin’s experience, he could only differentiate one lone wolf but nothing assured him that there weren’t any more of them around.

He was about to repeat himself one more time before dragging Jimin in the opposite way when they noticed a lump a couple of meters in front of them. It was huge and dark, convulsing aggressively like it was receiving shocks of electricity from some invisible lighting, huffing and growling while rolling around. It looked painful, the whimpers coming out of it making it seemed like it was under some kind of torture.

Jin slowed down when he noticed Jimin stopping abruptly, his shoulders moving up and down to show how hard he was trying to catch his breath. The older squinted his eyes to see if that figure was familiar to them. Could it really be Jungkook? Both of them started to approach with hesitating steps the dark shaking lump.

“Kookie?”, Jimin whispered, barely audible between the wailing sounds of pain that were escaping the huge lump over there and Jin’s gut feeling was getting more intense with each step they took toward that dark shape.

This wasn’t right.

“Kookie, are you okay?”.

A couple of red eyes shone, teeth showing up in sinister snarl and Jin knew that thing, whether it was Jungkook or not, was not in its right mind. Grabbing Jimin’s wrist before his dongsaeng could get any closer to it, Jin started to tug him away and Jimin didn’t fight it, realizing too that they had encountered something savage.

“See? I told you!”, Jin shouted, running fast enough to not have Jimin stumbling along the way. It was hard enough to keep up with the roots and bushes, trees and branches, but they could feel it, the heavy stumps of a bigger being following them close behind, “Why you never listen to me?”.

Jimin was too focus on running that he couldn’t verbalize an answer, only squeezing his hyung’s hand tighter in response. He yelped when his foot kicked some big rock, almost falling if it weren’t for the way Jin hyung jerked him up upward from his arm.

“We can’t fight it nor escape it, Jimin”, Jin let out breathless, hoping the words would reach the younger’s ears, “We need to go back to the hamlet”.

Jimin shook his head in denial, trying to formulate a ‘no’ loud enough for the older to understand. Jinyoung hyung said not to go back there until someone came searching for them. For all they knew, the hamlet could be in a worse state.

It was true, though. That they couldn’t keep running forever, not in Jimin’s current condition and definitely, not from a hunting beast. It was maddening. Stopping for a moment, even if it was just to catch their breath or to change the direction they were going, a brief moment of delay would be enough of a chance for the wolf to take a bite.

No matter how hard they were thinking, everything was reduced to the hamlet, where there were pack members who could help them. Or converted wolves ready to snap their necks. Options, they were getting out options. The vicious growlings were causing their adrenaline rushed higher, dodging and jumping to avoid the obstacles of the forest making them feel as if they were in some twisted video game where being caught meant death without a revival button.

Jimin cursed when his body couldn’t take it anymore, not after being neglected for so long. Adrenaline and some chocolate could only do so much. His legs gave out and he crumbled down with a gasp, feeling like his body had turned off, shut down any power reserve Jimin had been abusing.

“Jimin-ah!”, Jin yelled, noticing how Jimin let go of his hand, slipping away like something incorporeal.

His mouth moved, articulating a muted ‘keep running’ when Jin’s eyes glanced at the beast a couple of meters away from them, snapping his teeth like it was desperate to dig in. Grabbing a rock, Jin threw it as hard as he could toward the wolf, hitting it right in its forehead and just angering it more.

“Don’t you dare come closer”, Jin hissed protectively, picking another one big enough to be a bother and hurling it like it was some kind of grenade. The beast shook his head, snarling at them and crouching down, ready to jump on Jin and his annoying ass.

Better him than his dongsaeng, Jin briefly thought.

It leaped.

And Jin didn’t close his eyes, because even though he was afraid, he wanted to make sure it wouldn’t go for Jimin at the last second.

That’s how he was able to catch the sight of another wolf colliding against the red-eyed one. Its mouth wide open and shining with a glimpse of its sharp teeth just before they sank into the flesh of the other beast, dragging it down and hitting the floor with a loud thump. They rolled away, between whimpers and growlings, two blurring figures in constant movements that were too fast to follow with the eye.

“Jimin”, the older murmured, snapping out of it and rushing to pick up the younger.

He looked around, no matter how fast they would attempt to be, if it was hard before for them to escape one werewolf, running away from two beasts with one fallen man on his back would be an impossible task, even for Jin.

Biting his lip, Jin pulled Jimin toward the strongest looking tree that and with an alarming easiness, he was able to push the boy up, “Jimin-ah, I need you to cling to the nearest branch right now”, Jin ordered, glancing warily at the two wolves that were going for each other’s throat, “Please, Jimin”.

Jimin tried to blink the fog out of his eyes, shaking his head and slapping his cheek hard enough to make himself wince before extending one arm. His nails were digging into the bough as he forced himself to stretch his aching body and firmly gripped the closest branch.

“That’s right”, Jin said in a rush, pushing him up and helping his dongsaeng to climb the thick tree. His eyes fixed on the battle unraveling in front of him, “Come on, Jimin”, he encouraged, blanching when one of the wolf bit into the neck of the other, wrenching it like it was some weak prey to feast on, and not a wolf as huge as him.

Jimin got himself onto a sturdy branch before turning around and extending a hand toward Jin, “Hyung”, he called out when the other was too caught up observing the killing.

Jin flinched, turning around when he met the red eyes of a beast. He clasped Jimin’s hand when he felt the wolf running at full speed toward them and just when he was about to tear his leg off, Jin successfully climbed into the branch, holding tightly onto Jimin.

“Fuck”, Jin examined the way the wolf was desperately clawing at the trunk and feeling cautious about it, he told Jimin to go up another branch, just to be sure they were completely out of its reach.

Soon after, he followed him, holding each other as they looked down. That thing was completely rabid but when they glanced at the dead wolf that was lying now with a mangled neck, Jin took notice of his red lifeless eyes, identical to their attacker. Frowning in confusion, Jin wasn’t sure which one of the werewolves was the crazy beast chasing them first but the scarier aspect was that he had never crossed path with red-eyed werewolves before, and he didn’t exactly love the experience.

***

Namjoon went directly toward the beta, dodging and jumping over the converted werewolves because he was aware that those ones were certainly following their leader’s wishes. Just like Hyojung had said, they were zombies, puppets ready to be discarded. The beta smirked at him, knowing right away Namjoon’s intention, before turning around and running out of the cabin.

Namjoon didn’t let that baffle him, noticing how the beta disappeared into the woods and even though it was probably some kind of trap, he couldn’t let him go. Something from that boy was calling out of him a strange feeling he couldn’t name.

It was disheartening the view that received him out of the blue door, dozens and dozens of converted werewolves were crouching outside, scattered around the forest like pebbles and waiting to be commanded like battery toys. There were just too many of them, at least to the few of the pack members who were still able to fight. And for a split of a second, everything felt pointless. They were gonna lose anyway. No matter how many of the converted werewolves they would get rid of, more were gonna keep coming. Namjoon didn’t realize it but he’d slowed down a bit.

This was gonna be the end and the only regret Namjoon had was that he’d hurt Seokjin hyung in his poor attempt of protecting him and it was gonna be in vain because when that damned pack wins, their next goal will be to exterminate the hunters. Namjoon was gonna lose him for real. Should he go and-

‘Yah, Kim Namjoon!’

His voice came like a slap on his face, making him regain his courage. Right. Nothing would be pointless ever again, not after meeting him. He knew Seokjin would cringe so hard at his cheesy thought and that cheered him up a bit. Namjoon was an idiot for forgetting such a key aspect, even if it was for a short time. This pack was planning to annihilate every hunter and even though he didn’t exactly like those motherfuckers, there was one hunter Namjoon was more than willing to die for.

With renewed energy pumped into his system, he ran behind the trace of scent. The beta hadn’t gone far enough so he wasn’t surprised when he soon found the boy waiting for him, leaning on a tree with his hands inside his pockets like the lives he was threatening were nothing to him.

“That took you awhile”, he said, his eyes evaluating Namjoon the same way he was doing to the kid. After a long minute of observing, the beta huffed in disappointment like he’d come to a conclusion, “Honestly, I don’t see anything special about you”.

Namjoon didn’t let himself get distracted with the chit-chatting attitude, even though the beta looked young enough to be recently out of his teens, Namjoon knew better than to fool himself thinking the other was just an innocent boy.

“Even that fake alpha looked more impressive than you”, the beta snorted, clearly trying to provoke Namjoon and pursing his lips slightly when he didn’t get what he wanted because Namjoon sincerely thought the same about Jaebum. For obvious reasons, he wouldn’t tell the Head Alpha that but he didn’t feel irked with the beta’s taunting, “And yet, he’s reluctant to fight you”.

Who? Jaebum? The boy didn’t know what he was talking about. Jaebum is always ready to fight Namjoon, searching for little things to snap at him. The only reason he was holding in was probably because of their supposed and temporal alliance.

“I really want to know what makes you so different”, the beta hissed, taking off his jacket and cracking his neck with a smug expression on his face before crouching down. His transformation was perfectly smooth for his juvenile appearance and that alerted Namjoon that the boy was probably a skilled fighter.

This was gonna be such a pain in the ass to deal with.

***

“Hyung, it doesn’t look like it’s getting tired any time soon”, Jimin murmured with his eyes closed to avoid getting more nauseous and his temple resting against the tree bark. One hand clawing the trunk and the other gripping Jin’s hand tightly.

“It’s okay, it can’t reach us up here”, Jin replied, though eyeing warily the beast that was snapping his teeth under their dangling legs, “Unless it goes back to its human form which looks kind of far-fetched at the moment”.

The snarling being was out of its mind, totally savage in the lack of human consciousness. Jin doubted that it’d make any other thing than just growling and scratching. That type of behavior reminded him of the Jungkook he met that night, all wild and violent.

“Well, we can’t stay here forever”, Jimin said, pale and weak because of the way he’d been treating his body lately, “With all this noise, it’s gonna attract attention sooner or later”.

Jin knew the younger wasn’t wrong but there was nothing they could do. Jin had no weapon on him, not even a cellphone to call for help. Jimin was nearly a corpse with how spent the boy was after his unhealthy routine for the past month. When guilt started to bubble up inside him once again, Jin shut it down because there was no time to waste thinking about that now.

How were they supposed to get out of there?

The shadows moved a couple of meters away, a huge figure came out of between the trees with silent steps and Jin barely caught sight of the wolf. Its eyes didn't shine with redness and that was a relief, increasing the possibility of that wolf being a member of the local pack. He glanced back at the crazed beast beneath them and with relief, he noticed how it hadn’t noticed the approaching wolf.

“Hold tight”, Jin whispered to Jimin so the other wouldn’t flinch when the fight broke loose which occurred much sooner than expected. The wolf came dashing at them, jumping on the beast’s back and giving a powerful bite into its shoulder. The wild one started to bounce like those mechanical bulls, howling and whimpering while trying to get the other wolf off his back.

The flesh from the shoulder tore up, the attacking wolf slipping from the back of the enemy but not wasting a second more, it quickly went for the neck of the red-eyed creature. The beast scrambled in a poor attempt to push him away but the wolf just sank his teeth deeper into the meat of its collar, immobilizing the beast with aggressive growls vibrating from its chest.

The wolf stayed in that position, with his jaw locked up around that creature for long enough until its death was certain. Then, it dropped the corpse and stepped back to transform into his human form. And Jimin felt himself relax against his hyung with some relief when he recognized the guy.

“Yugyeom”, Jimin let out in a whisper, the younger approaching the tree the other two were huddling into, sending a confused look to the beast lying dead at his feet.

“What the hell was that?”, he grunted, spitting blood to the side. Yugyeom had never seen a wolf with red eyes, and while fighting it, Yugyeom felt like he was dealing with a true animal. That was the reason it wasn’t that hard to fight them, a cognitive aspect helping him realize the weak points of his enemy and the way to use them to his advantage.

“We don’t know either but it’d killed another red-eyed too”, Jin answered, helping Jimin to climb down to the lower branch. It was concerning how cold his dongsaeng’s hands were, how his arms were trembling with the excessive effort his body was trying to supply him with, “Could you catch him, please?”.

“Right”, Yugyeom positioned himself under the branch, opening his arms to welcoming the human but then he tensed up, a feeling coming fast like a sting and disappearing and suddenly, he was flying backward.

“Fuck”, Jin gasped, lifting Jimin up with a rush of strength he didn’t know he had. He secured his dongsaeng next to him when some dark blur came out of nowhere, tackling down Yugyeom in the blink of an eye, “What is that?”.

There was a black wolf on top of Yugyeom, huge and almighty in its size. There was this sort of threatening aura surrounding him that even Jimin knew that it wasn’t an ordinary werewolf. Not even a red-eyed. Yugyeom was clearly struggling underneath that wolf but Jimin couldn’t see much more from his spot. Somehow, Yugyeom was holding on, his legs crushed by the weight of that enormous creature but they could hear him curse and gasp, indicating that his head was still in place.

“Wha-...Kook?”, it was a mumble, breathless and swallowed by the loud growls the wolf was making, but Jimin heard it anyways and so did Jin hyung because both of them froze at the mention of that name, “Kook...It’s me...wha-?”, a scream of pain chilled Jimin’s inside, the raw sound piercing his ears and causing him to flinch, almost falling off the tree if it weren’t for Jin hyung’s strong grip.

Without even thinking it through, Jimin shrugged him off, throwing himself from the branch and landing roughly on the hard ground. There was a tiny lick of ache throbbing near his foot that he decided to ignore while stumbling toward the black wolf. He caught sight of its teeth firmly secured into Yugyeom’s forearms that were mid-transformation, thick and stronger than human arms but still bleeding and tearing apart. They were shielding the vital points of his neck and face, though Jimin was aware they were only protecting Yugyeom for a limited time.

And then, Jimin also got to take notice of the familiar scar the wolf had under his eye and he instantly knew that, even if Kook didn’t look at all like him now, that little mark left behind was all it took for Jimin to feel something warm and potent bubbling up inside his chest.

Running toward him, Jimin’s arms hugged Kook from behind, his face nuzzling into the fur. The wolf startled under his touch but refused to let go of his trapped prey, his teeth sinking deeper into Yugyeom’s flesh and making the other holler out in pain.

“Stop”, Jimin said, tightening his hold and rubbing his face against the wolf’s back. The action didn’t sit well with Kook, spurring him into reckless motion while trying to get free without letting his prey escape. He started to jump and shake, with each movement causing Yugyeom a greater ache, “Kookie, stop!”.

The black wolf didn’t listen, moving around with so much force Jimin felt like his arms were about to be ripped off his body but he knew his pain couldn’t compare with Yugyeom’s so he kept himself attached to the wolf with an iron grip.

“Kookie, please! I’m begging you!”, Jimin cried out in despair, feeling a pair of arms circling his waist, a poor attempt of yanking him off.

“Jimin-ah, let go!”, Jin hyung ordered, trying to save Jimin from his own stubborn self, “Hyung will do it, I’ll try to stop him so let go”.

“Kook! Listen to me”, Jimin yelled, aware that it was too late to step aside and let Jin hyung take care of it, a wrong move could cost more than a life at this moment. But he didn’t want to let go of Kookie either, not now, not never, “He’s your friend! I know you’re not like this...this is not you so come out, please, I-I need you here….pup, please!”, he desperately begged, some of his words getting muffled by the black fur, his voice cracking at the aggressive movements and feelings clogging his throat.

“It’s too late!”, Yugyeom shouted out, groaning after every motion the big wolf made, his teeth digging in like a row of knives, “Just leave! Just leave now!”, he pleaded, not wanting to drag them to their death too. Yugyeom acknowledged then the fact that he wouldn’t be able to resist for long, the pain flooding his system getting to be too much for him to handle, dark spots appearing in his view.

“Kook, please, wake up!”, Jimin begged, refusing to give up on him, to let go like Jin hyung was demanding him to do because he knew that if he did, if he abandoned him now, Jungkook would die buried within himself, within this unhinged version of creature Jimin once took care of. Therefore, Jimin preferred to go with Kookie while trying to reach out for him than to move aside and watch him lose himself in madness, “Pup!”.

***

“Pup”.

Kook was hyperventilating, one arm loosely circling his neck and a pointy chin resting on his shoulder. Her smell was potent, stronger than the stench of blood. Calloused fingers appeared in front of his eyes, leaving him blind to the sight of his bleeding brother.

“Jungkook-ah”.

Her voice was soothing yet overpowering. Kook couldn’t hear anything else, feeling like he was underwater, echoes of her sweet tone taking Kook to another place and another time when everything was fine, almost perfect.

He was there, sitting on the deck by the lake near one of his many childhood houses. As nomads, they never stayed in one place for too long but this house Kook could remember above the rest, it was his favorite one. He loved the cold lake, the gentle sun and the clearing full of a wild garden. It felt like a fairy tale and Kook liked it there so much.

But this time, he was angry.

Kook glanced down at his scrawny legs swinging softly over the water. Boredom was heavy on him because his dad had taken his older brother with him to town and mom was too busy hunting for the night. Even though he’d begged his mom to let him accompany her, assuring that he could be of some help, she had stuck to her decision as always and now, he was angry, lonely and bored.

“My pup”, those words felt familiar to him so he looked over his shoulder with hopeful eyes to turn around a second later with a frown on his face, confused at the disappointment he was feeling, his sharp shoulders deflating, “Why are you sulking?”.

She sat down next to him with a sigh, her eyes fixed on the lake while she bumped her shoulder with her kid. Kook decided to stay quiet because she wanted to talk now? When he had asked her the reason he was left out from activities that truly matter, his mother only shook her head with amusement that Kook was certainly not feeling.

Sure, he had to clean after himself at mealtime like everyone else but he had no great responsibility. His mother was in charged of hunting and other badasses stuff, his father was their link to the town in case they needed special things from them and even Junghyun was taking turns between joining their mother on a killing trip or going with their father to get other supplies from the nearest town. Only Jungkook was left here, rotting with the hot and humid air of the place, feeling like a toy that none wanted to play with.

And he wasn’t stupid. Kook knew that his brother would often prefer going to the human town with his father because their old man let him play at the parks with all those big and coiled slides, he’d seen them once when traveling through town to get to this cabin but they didn’t let him play because there were too many human kids around. Seeing them having fun with their peers, Kook felt envious of them, his own loneliness making him walk slower without taking his curious eyes off them.

He only had his jerk of a hyung to play!

Another bump to his shoulder startled him out of his grumpy thoughts and he crossed his arms to show his unrelenting stance. Jungkook was trustworthy and skillful, he knew he could do better if only his mother would have some faith in him. A third bump, so aggressive it felt like a punch pushed Jungkook out of his balance, almost making him fall into the lake if it weren’t because his mother was already catching him by the forearm.

“Ugh! What’s wrong with you?”, Kook grunted, shaking her off and accommodating himself on the deck properly, putting some distance between them so she would get the idea that he wanted to be left alone just like he’d gotten used to, “Why are you acting like this? Are you a child?”.

“Are you an old man perhaps?”, the woman mused, snorting when she caught Kook rolling his big eyes in response, “Come on, tell mom what are you sulking about?”.

“I’m not sulking”, Kook said with gritted teeth, glaring at his hands and feeling a deep restlessness in the back of his head.

His father had told him weeks ago that entity was probably his inner wolf and with a concentrated scowl, Kook tried desperately to get a grip on it. Maybe he could force his stupid wolf out to materialize through his weak human body, in that way, his family would start considering him a valuable asset to their pack.

“Yeah, and I’m not an amazing mom”, she scoffed with irony, peeking at his child to search for some restrained smile. Nothing, not even an upward quirk of his lips. Aigoo, it seemed Kook was really pissed this time, “Son, if you don’t tell me what’s wrong how am I gonna help you?”.

For a second, Kook’s frown deepened at that. She was making it sound like he was at fault here when it clearly wasn’t the case. Would she leave him alone if he spoke up once and for all about the thing that was really getting on his nerves? Giving up with an exasperated sigh that almost make his mother chuckle, Jungkook uncrossed his arms.

“I’m not useless”, he spat right away, making her eyes widened in surprise.

“Of course you aren’t”, she immediately replied, “What is this nonsense?”.

“I’m just saying it because all of you treat me like that”, Kook stated, wringing his hands in his lap to avoid picking the peach fuzz off his cheek since he knew his mom would slap his hand away, “I know my first transformation is delayed by many months already but I don’t want you guys to treat me like I can’t do anything else besides taking my dishes to the kitchen”.

“How do you-?”, she began to formulate, confused and worried about how his son must’ve been feeling all this time.

“I heard you and dad talked about it weeks ago”, Jungkook answered, fear of never getting to transform and run alongside his family making his lower lip trembled, scared of being a disappointment, of being excluded, “I’m not broken, mom”, his voice cracked a bit and he repeated inside his head that bad word his hyung had taught him many nights ago.

“Oh, pup”, that endearing term squeezed something in his chest again, making him look at his mother with bewilderment, “My child”, she said, petting his long hair with a soft smile on her face. She briefly thought while adjusting the bangs out of Kook’s big eyes that his boy needed a haircut. Her youngest was growing up so fast and there was nothing she could do about it, “I know you’re not broken, son”.

“Then why do you treat me like I’m fragile? Isn’t it because I haven’t transformed yet?”, Kook questioned with an annoyed tone, pushing her hand away and lowering his head, his attention back to the lake and his skinny legs.

“Jungkook-ah, I know for a fact that you’re not broken”, his mother gently grabbed his chin so she could guide his eyes back to her, so his son would see the transparency of her words, “I can feel it as your mom how you keep getting stronger”, she admitted with a serious intensity that didn’t match with the real context.

“Well, I don’t really feel like I’m getting any stronger, mom”, Jungkook pointed out with a huff, his nails digging into one of his bony thighs.

“That’s because it’s a slow process, Kook”, an intense emotion clouded her gaze for a moment, causing the look his mother got every time she had figured everything out to appear.

But there was a strange element that Jungkook had only seen a couple of times when they were being confronted by another nomad or some wild animal. It was primal and raw, instigating some aggressive reaction out of him and making him snarl at her in response, showing his teeth in a threatening way. And as quick as that fire appeared, it was put out with a hearty chuckle from his mom.

“That’s my pup”, she ruffled his hair in excitement, clearly joyed but the display of challenge his younger son had pulled off, “See? I’ve always known it was inside you, from the very moment you were conceived, I could feel it”.

“Feel what? What’s inside of me?”, Jungkook asked with panic lacing his voice, gazing down at his own chest with a scared expression, as if a monster would rip him in half from within, crawling out of him with sharp claws and an ugly face. That thing, whatever it was, made him defy his mother, the alpha of this family, and he didn’t like it one bit, “Mom, what’s wrong with me? Am I gonna...die?”

“Easy there, boy”, his mother calmed him down, not letting go of him yet, “Nothing is wrong with you”, she emphasized each word with a squeeze on his chin, her eyes staring at Jungkook with such a level of vehemence, he couldn’t pull his gaze away, “Your wolf is a bit different from the rest, you’re a bit different from the rest”.

Jungkook felt hurt after hearing those words. Did that mean he wasn’t normal, not broken but perhaps twisted just like the slides at the park?

“Just like me”, his mother announced with a wolfish smile, as if she could hear his thoughts, “Just like one of your children will be”, she added in a happy trance, ignoring the way Kook scrunched his nose in disgust, “My sweetest kid”, she said in a lulling tone, resting her forehead against Jungkook’s with a glint of sadness and pity starting to seep into her expression, beginning by the corners of her thin lips.

“Mom...”.

“You’re gonna suffer so much too”, his mother continued with a darkening expression, murmuring like she was lost in some memory where Jungkook couldn’t reach her at all, “Everything is gonna be so hard, baby”.

“Mom?”.

“You’ll feel like dying”, she confessed with a faraway look on her face, her eyes filling with compassionate tears, her fingertips pressing into his cheek so hard they would leave bruises behind, “Like letting everything go would be easier”.

“M-Mom!”.

The fear in his son’s voice brought her back and she was again staring intensely at him, her trembling fingers cupping Jungkook’s face instead of digging into his flesh, making him shudder with her even though the sun was still up and burning his skin.

“But listen to me, son”, she licked her lips, trapping some of the tears rolling down her cheeks, “Don’t let it swallow you”, his mother enunciated her message with urgency, “No matter what, you have to tame it”.

“Honey!”, Jungkook heard his dad’s voice, panicked and gasping as he ran toward them but his mom didn’t even blink so Kook didn’t dare to look away.

“There are many things that are out of your control but this”, his mother said, shaking his head to make him understand, “This you have to control”, she told the clueless kid, stubborn as always when her wolfish claws dug at the skin of her son’s face, drawing out a bit of blood and making him wince at the sting, “You have to tame it”.

A bigger hand grabbed his mother’s wrist, pulling her away from Jungkook, the abruptness making him blink in surprise. When he opened his eyes, there was nothing but darkness with colorful designs making their appearance. The hand that was blinding him started to retreat and in front of him was standing a black wolf, similar to her mother’s but bigger in size, so huge it was all Jungkook could focus on.

The wolf was snarling, crouching down just like a predator about to pounce and its eyes were fixed on Kook. It felt oddly familiar, like looking into a distorted mirror, but it also felt frightening because the amount of power that was emanating from it was pushing him down to the floor, making him bow down. It was hard to resist, even though he was trying to stay with his back straight and his chin up, a stronger force was too heavy on his shoulders.

“Pup”, two voices, one word were whispered into his ears and he felt his arms violently shake while trying to keep his forehead away from the ground, aware that if he completed the bow, he would’ve lost.

Sweat was dripping into the floor, his veins popping through his skin with the effort he was putting. This was a battle of dominance but Kook accepted now that he was just like his mother, stubborn as hell. So he wouldn't yield, no matter what, he wasn’t fragile nor pathetic anymore. He was like any other werewolf, just a bit different, his wolf was a bit different.

“Pup”, weird how Jimin’s voice harmonized so perfectly with his mother’s but somehow, it made sense with the melodic tune they both shared, the freshness, the peacefulness, the love in them.

Jimin, Jimin, Jimin.

Something was burning inside his core, quickly spreading to the rest of his body, causing him to shiver in pleasure because it was the type of heat that made everything perfect. Feeling like he was fighting against gravity, Jungkook grunted between gritted teeth as he struggled to look up and meet the wolf’s imposing gaze.

He snarled back at it.

“Free yourself”, her mother murmured into his ear, harsh and quiet, and suddenly, Kook felt weightless.

Standing up, Jungkook ran toward the wolf with a growl of his own just when the beast pounced at him. He waited for the collision to force the air out of his lungs and break every single bone of his body. But the crash never came and when he blinked in bewilderment, his mouth tasted like blood and there was a corpse beneath him.

“P-Pup…?”, someone was behind him, attached to his back and panting against his fur. That one word pronounced by that sweet voice was enough for the shivering to return more intense than ever. He didn’t even notice the pain of transforming into his human form, just realizing when he felt naked skin against skin, “Kook-ah”.

He glanced down and flinched back when he saw Yugyeom’s face under him, blood coating his arms like red sleeves. When he abruptly backed away, Kook fell onto someone, hearing a grunt of pain that startled him out of his horrified trance.

He’d killed Yugyeom.

A human crawled toward his friend’s body, palping his neck with a couple of fingers while Jungkook held his breath, scared of the verdict. He’d done it again. Maybe his brother was right. He was born to kill. A murderer from conception. First his mother, then his brother and now his friend.

“Kookie, you heard him?”, his person was cradling Kook’s head with a tenderness he didn't deserve, “Jin hyung said Yugyeom is alive, he just passed out. He’s fine, baby, he’s fine”, Jungkook shook his head in denial, approaching his friend’s body and searching for his pulse himself.

He forgot to breathe for a moment, freezing when there was nothing but warm skin and then, a weak pulse was felt against his fingertips. Jungkook exhaled in relief, looking at his person with hopeful eyes and finding Jimin nodding at him, encouragingly and relieved on his own.

Uncertain of what to do next, Kook stayed rooted in his place. Was he allowed to touch Jimin? After all, he’d done? If the other rejected him, Jungkook wouldn’t be able to take it. Fearing himself, Kook searched desperately for an answer and suddenly there was softness cuddling against his chest.

“My pup”, Jimin sighed in content, nuzzling into his neck, making his pretty hair tickle Kook’s nose. In a quick movement, his arms were instantly wrapped around his hyung, feeling grateful for this moment of happiness.

He’d missed this so bad.

Jimin pulled away enough to get a look of Kook’s face, so pretty and innocent even with blood staining his face as he’d messily eaten something red and juicy, fresh tears running their patterns down his cheeks.

Grabbing the hem of his shirt to clean it off, Jimin felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder when he tried to raise his arms, opting for just rubbing the blood with his fingertips and attempting to mask his wince with gritted teeth.

Observing him, Kookie looked like the same guy with his boyish charm and naive appearance, his doe eyes were staring at Jimin’s face, his big nose was cute as always and his thin lips ajar in a spaced-out expression. But something was different about him, something firm and almost tranquil. There was no chaos, he wasn’t lost anymore. And Jimin didn’t fight the welcoming smile on his face, his eyes shining with pride because somehow, he knew that Kookie was back home, had returned to stay this time.

“My big pup”, Jimin whispered weakly before finally losing consciousness, the rush of adrenaline gone and leaving behind a sleeping doll. His body leaned against Kook’s chest who hugged him tightly in response to stop him from slipping away.

Jin had finished bandaging Yugyeom’s arms with pieces of his shirt when he glanced at the sticky pair. He felt genuinely happy for them, a melancholic sting on his chest when he realized they reminded him of Namjoon. Cursing his ex out because he was still angry with him, Jin hoisted up Yugyeom on his back.

“We need to go back to the hamlet”, Jin informed him, still avoiding the younger’s gaze, “There’s been an attack and possible exits are surrounded by converted wolves”, he started to walk toward the direction that Yugyeom had appeared from since that was the only indicator he had about the proper direction to follow.

“Hyung”, Kookie called, his voice raspy and deep, startling Jin because it didn’t match with his memory of the kid, “How big I was in my wolf form?”.

Seokjin stopped walking, frowning in confusion before turning around to answer him, “Very big”, then hesitated a bit before adding, “Are you fishing for a compliment right now?”.

“What? No”, Kookie denied, looking as bewildered with Jin’s response, “Was I big enough to carry the three of you?”.

Jin tried to remember the sight of the black wolf that had clearly grown up more since the time he shot him down. Grimacing at that second incident, he compared both images of the same wolf in his head. Its latest size had been huge, unreal even, but could one tall man and two unconscious guys ride its back?

“I mean I could try to keep them both secured on top of you”, the older trailed off, thinking about the best positions for each of them, feeling like he was playing tetris with their bodies, “We could give it a try, you’ll have to go a bit slow though”.

Nodding, Kook lied down Jimin on the ground with the gentleness of a mom putting down her newborn. He caressed Jimin’s cheek with a feeling Jin’s was familiar with, making the older look away at the gesture. When he glanced back, Kook was already retreating a couple of steps, breathing heavily like an enraged bull.

The kid was naked and out of respect, Seokjin focused on Kook’s face while he crouched down on four, showing his teeth and glaring at some spot in front of him. The view resembled one of an athlete just waiting for the gunshot to start the race. After an awkward moment of nothing but snarls and growls coming out of the boy, Jin opened his mouth to tell Kook that his plan, though theoretically great, wouldn’t work.

He didn’t want to offend the younger but did he really learn how to control his transformation? The sound of cracking bones was all Jin needed to know the answer, a slow and painful but safe and complete shifting occurring in front of his surprised eyes. And soon enough, there was a black wolf standing tall and strong where there was a human more than a minute ago.

“Oh my God”, Jin gasped in shock, snapping out of it when the black wolf huffed out, stomping impatiently. Right, they had already lost a lot of time.

Kook crouched down a bit so it’d be easier for the older to put Jimin and Yugyeom on his back. Soon after, Seokjin climbed on top of the wolf to sit behind the two bodies that were precariously placed on their bellies, arms and legs hanging against the sides of Kook’s torso. Leaning in so he could grab some tufts of fur and secure their friends with the weight of his own body, Jin murmured a confirmation to Jungkook who started to jogged toward the hamlet as fast as he could without dropping anyone behind.

***

The beta was fast and slippery, hard to hurt when he would avoid every pounce Namjoon tried. The alpha wasn’t stupid, it was clear the other was attempting to tire Namjoon down first before starting to attack him. But the younger was underestimating Namjoon and his stamina because he wasn’t going down that easily.

Namjoon felt a nip on one of his hind legs, making him jump away from his place, turning around to bite back when he felt another sting to his side. Cursing internally, he realized the beta’s tactics were forcing Namjoon to leap around like a trapped rabbit, mocking him.

But it was hard to even catch a clear view of the smaller wolf, only getting to briefly see a blur moving around fast enough to make him feel a bit dizzy. This reminded him of those dark times when he’d recently left behind his pack, having to endure life through hunting for a period of time until he got the courage to go to the city.

At first, Namjoon was a mess, completely incompetent at catching his own source of life. He nearly passed out from hunger when one of the many things Jaebum had told him when they were still friends and everything seemed fine surged through his hazy mind. All it took was one grip, he’d commented what it looked like ages ago instead of a couple of days.

Easier said than done.

Barely grasping the tail of the younger wolf, Namjoon took advantage of that one grip he had on the beta, yanking him from the furry piece of flesh toward his own body, dragging the enemy closer and without wasting another second, he pounced at it. There was a high whimper briefly ringing in Namjoon’s ear before they rolled around until the beta ended on top, both of them contorting their bodies to get a bite from the other.

When Namjoon felt the pain of beta’s teeth sinking into the flesh dangerously near his neck, he threw the younger away from him with the force of his legs. There was a dull sound when the wolf collided into a thick tree, his ribs making a cracking sound with the impact.

Namjoon stood up, ignoring the burning pain from the bite and started to run toward the beta who nuzzled his jacket with a sorrowful whine. And before Namjoon could end him with a final blow, his ears twitched when he heard something being crushed.

He stopped when the broken body in front of him started to convulse aggressively, growls and whimpers making their way out of the beta. A dense stench began to ooze from the younger, stinking the surrounding area with an acrid smell, so potent Namjoon took a couple of steps back feeling nauseous and confused.

The first cry that came out from the beta was similar to the one that was heard when his body collided against the tree. And when similar sounds flooded Namjoon’s head, it became a macabre symphony, bones cracking simultaneously causing the skin covering them to appear like it was being kicked at random spots from within. It felt unnatural in the worst of ways.

But it was quicker than Namjoon’s speed to process the situation because when he tried to blink his bewilderment away, the beta was raising on his four legs, way sturdier and bigger in size than what Namjoon remembered. The wolf in front of him had red eyes that were staring at him with no trace of the hostility the beta had been throwing at him from the first time, it almost looked like a whole different wolf and Namjoon couldn’t understand how was it possible.

The wolf lowered himself a bit before jumping toward Namjoon, the older barely avoiding him but noticing that had it hit him, the push would’ve felt like being run over by a truck. The beta growled out his frustration, running after Namjoon in an attempt to take him down. The alpha was managing to dodge every pounce the other made but he was still too confused to try an offensive tactic. It felt like the roles had been reversed and now the younger was the raging beast. It even seemed like he’d lost any sense of rationality, attacking blindly like a hungry creature.

“Why the fuck are you playing tag with the enemy?”, Namjoon’s head turned around toward the owner of that familiar yet annoying voice, “Are you losing your touch, man?”.

If only Namjoon could roll his eyes without risking being killed by the huge wolf behind his hind legs, he totally would, even though he was relieved seeing Jackson up on a tree branch. Honestly, he was too focused on how the smaller beta had become such a big wolf, almost looking like an alpha but without the human conscious shining in his eyes.

The mysterious drug.

Namjoon’s eyes widened in realization, glancing briefly at the jacket lying near the roots of that thick tree. Remembering that he’d listened to the sound of something being crushed, something plastic, some kind of container that had inside whatever the beta had probably digested. They needed that jacket.

A loud battle cry resonated behind and one look over his shoulder gave Namjoon the image of Jackson jumping off a tree toward the beta, transforming mid-air and sinking his claws on the back of the creature.

Huffing out in frustration because they should’ve done a plan first, Namjoon prepared to join his friend in his reckless attack. He veered away fast enough to run straight toward the beast who was trying so hard to get Jackson off his back but when he saw Namjoon so close, the beta forgot completely about the wolf he was trying to get rid off and with surprising strength, he ran and leaped to pounce on Namjoon. A second later, the alpha transformed into his human body so he could slide underneath the beta with more ease, his right hand still on his wolfish form with claws strong and sharp enough to sink into his soft underbelly and tear the vulnerable flesh apart.

The wolf landed roughly, too wounded to stand up straight, wobbling on his legs with sorrowful whines spilling out of him. He was weak now and Jackson didn’t hesitate to bite deep enough to be deadly, pulling away only when the beta stopped trashing under him.

There was a brief pause where Namjoon and Jackson made sure to take a breath, the rush and confusion of fighting such a big wild beast still having a dizzying effect on both of them. Even without saying it out loud, Namjoon knew that his friend was aware that this wolf had been...off, so engulfed in his animalistic side, he’d lost touch with his humanity. Could that happen to them someday? Could they just slip from his human awareness? Could they just become wild beasts?

“What is that?”, Jackson was the first to talk, awaking Namjoon from the spiral of his internal crisis. He was pointing the piece of clothing lying by the roots of one thick tree and Namjoon hurried to the spot, carefully lifting the jacket and shaking it slightly until something fell from it. It was a broken syringe.

“That makes no sense”, Namjoon murmured, deep in thoughts. If it was an injectable substance then it shouldn’t have worked when he ingested it, but it did and very fast. He clenched his jaw, thinking hard about it with a frown, unless…

“Namjoon-ah, we don’t have time for this”, Jackson reminded him, glancing warily at the bleeding corpse, anxious about the prospect of fighting more werewolves like the savage beast he’d encountered while looking for his friend. It had been harder than it looked to stay glued to the back of that creature with his vicious attempts of making him fall.

“You’re right”, Namjoon nodded, putting the syringe inside one of the pockets before standing up, hoping that the tiny plastic thing wouldn’t get terribly ruined on their way back because even though he wanted to treat it with the delicacy it demanded, the circumstances didn’t leave him much of a choice.

“Jackson”, Namjoon began to say, grabbing the jacket in a way it wouldn’t accidentally fall from his grip and protect the syringe, “Can you carry me?”.

“What? Naked?”, Jackson frowned, eyeing the wound that was decorating the skin near Namjoon’s throat. Honestly speaking, the scratch didn't seem so awful to require such a thing as a piggyback, “Are you kidding me?”.

“That’s not it”, Namjoon answered, gesturing with a slight move of his chin at the jacket on his hands, “I can’t let go of this thing until we make it back to the hamlet”.

Jackson eyed the jacket with his scowl deepening. The hamlet wasn’t the safest place at the moment, surrounded by converted werewolves. And even though Jackson had rushed to the pack territory bringing as many rogues from the city as he could in such short notice, they were still at a disadvantage.

“What about him?”, Jackson signaled toward the body, feeling a bit uneasy to let it here, especially because it hadn’t turned into a human form yet, “I can’t carry both of you to the hamlet, at least not while he’s still transformed”.

Namjoon bit the inside of his cheek, thinking hard of what to do. He understood Jackson’s concern, he was feeling apprehensive about leaving the beta behind just like that as well but there was no time to wait around until the younger’s body would take its human form again. Approaching the corpse and making sure it didn’t have a pulse anymore, Namjoon decided that delivering the drug safely to the hamlet was the priority now.

“We need to give this to Yongsun-ssi and the pack doctors”, Namjoon explained, gazing warily at the jacket, “I think it’s way more dangerous than a lifeless body”, he said as if he was trying to convince himself too.

“Fine”, Jackson huffed out, lowering himself and transforming into his wolf form with the ease of experience. Namjoon climbed on, patting his friend to let him know he was ready to leave and with a last glance toward the beta, they hurried back to the hamlet, the jacket burning in his grip.

***

It was chaos. The territory had been invaded, there were multiple converted werewolves cornering pack members all over the center of the hamlet, the difference in numbers was so noticeable, Jin couldn’t help but grimace at the sight. The cacophony of whimpers and growls were flooding Jin’s ears, his hands twitching with the need to cover them but they remained on top of the two unconscious bodies, keeping them secure while Jungkook walked closer to the edge of the forest while trying to stay unseen.

“We need to take them to a doctor”, Jin leaned in and whispered, pointing at one construction that was too near to the entrance to be considered a safe place, “I think that’s the infirmary”, he explained with a strained tone, knowing that getting there wouldn’t be easy.

Jungkook advanced, taking them to the cabins that were farther away from the entrance, where the converted werewolves hadn’t taken an interest yet. The elderly and the youngest ones were probably hiding there, muffling sounds and unsure of what to do when their protectors were defeated just a couple of meters away.

Seokjin thought they were gonna circle the hamlet to approach the infirmary from behind, avoiding the crowded center and sneaking into the cabin through some back door or window but Jungkook slid his way into the desolated venues, away from the converted werewolves. He jogged toward the entrance of one random cabin and Jin stretched to grab the knob, making an effort to opening the door without letting go of Jimin and Yugyeom.

Once it was opened, Jungkook entered the place with light steps, passing through the wide threshold with such an ease that let Jin know that the cabin had been conveniently built like that to allow wolves to enter and leave the place without a hassle. The place was very spacious with little furniture, just a large couch and a rectangular carpet in the middle of the living room.

Jungkook crouched down enough so Jin could jump off his back, grabbing Yugyeom as gently as possible before laying him down on the couch. The poor guy was soaked in sweat, shivering and panting for air, probably running a fever. When he put Jimin down on the carpet, adjusting a cushion under his head, Jin started to search around the cabin for the bathroom, he grabbed a couple of towels and the little medicine cabinet that was tucked away in one of the many drawers.

When he entered the living room, Jungkook had just turned back into his human form, gasping for air next to Jimin's unconscious body. Seokjin kneeled down in front of the couch, grabbing Yugyeom’s wrist to raise his arm a bit and immediately put pressure on it with a towel, the light fabric painted red so fast the view squeezed Jin’s stomach.

Seokjin opened the medicine cabinet and let out a frustrated groan when he found just basic pills for headaches and a half-empty bottle of peroxide. He'd thought hey needed to go to the infirmary. Wrong. They needed a doctor. Adjusting himself in a better position, Seokjin grabbed another towel and put pressure on both of Yugyeom's forearms. He glanced back at Jungkook who was shaking his head like he was trying to clear it up, his eyes closed and hands trembling.

“Can you go see if there’s some ice to put on Jimin’s shoulder? It’s looking pretty swollen”, Jin said, gazing worriedly at Jimin and being partially thankful that the younger was unconscious, otherwise, the pain in his shoulder could be too intense for his weakened condition.

After rummaging a bit in another room, Jungkook came back with his hands reddened by the cold of the uneven blocks of ice, “Wrap it up with the towel and slightly rest it on his shoulder”.

Jungkook did as he was told, his face unreadable while he stared at Jimin’s face but just when Jin was about to interrupt and point out that Yugyeom’s bleeding didn’t seem to reduce, the younger stood up, “I’m gonna get whatever you need from the infirmary”.

Seokjin blinked in surprise and then in worry because he wasn’t a doctor, his medical knowledge was pretty basic and the wound Yugyeom sustained looked too severe for Jin to handle. More than medicine, they needed a doctor. But Seokjin didn’t say that, not when it was obvious and unhelpful.

“For Yugyeom, the only thing I can do is to try to stop the bleeding,”, Jin quickly informed, eyeing the pale figure under his bloody hands, “As for Jimin, he passed out so he’s not in pain, I don’t think he needs any immediate medicine. There’s no much I can do for them”.

Jungkook nodded in understanding, his face filled with regret and impotence when he watched his friend bleeding out on the couch. Seokjin knew that the younger must be boiling in frustration but no matter how many medical supplies Jungkook could bring them if they didn’t know how to treat the wound, it’d all be useless.

“But can you check if there’s something sweet on the fridge?”, Jin asked while trying to rub off with his shoulder the sweat on his forehead, grabbing another towel to press it down on top of the ones soaked in blood, “He probably passed out because of a drop in his blood sugar levels”.

When Jungkook came back, he put down a can of soda next to Jimin’s body before continuing to rest the ice wrapped in a towel on his shoulder. Time ticked down and less than a minute that felt so much longer than that, Jungkook spoke up, startling Jin out of his simmering concern. Concerned about Jimin and Yugyeom, about the pack members that were fighting and the ones that were being sheltered, about a certain werewolf that had broken his heart hours ago and was out there in the danger.

“I’m gonna go out there”, he said in a quiet yet firm tone, brushing away Jimin’s hair from his forehead and gazing at him with an unblinking stare.

“What?”, Jin uttered, throwing a frowning look over his shoulder, “I told you that even with the medical supplies, it’s gonna be useless if there’s none who can properly treat them”.

“I know”, Jungkook answered, his fingertips sliding down the slope of Jimin’s little nose, pulling away slightly from the plumpness of his lips, as if he’d suddenly realized the filthy state of his hands, “I’m still going out there”, Jungkook searched for Jin’s eyes, his hands clenched on his lap, “So please, take care of him”, he asked, a whispering voice pronouncing a roaring message.

“No, Jungkook, you can’t go out there”, Jin said, panicking while trying to turn toward the younger without reducing the pressure on Yugyeom’s wound, “What if you…”, Jin licked his dry lips, his wavering gaze jumping from different spots in the living room, from Jungkook to Jimin, to the ceiling and the door.

‘What if you die’, he wanted to yell, ‘What if you die for real this time’.

“What happens to Jimin then?”, he asked instead, knowing that there was no way Seokjin would forgive himself for letting the younger risk his own life. It’d be like pulling the trigger once again, “You weren’t there, Jungkook-ah, but Jimin…”, Jin glanced down at the pale face of his dongsaeng, his sunken cheeks and the prominent edges of his bones. He seemed like someone who would be resting inside of a coffin, “He can’t live without you”.

A conflicted look flashed through Jungkook’s eyes before a feeling of resolution would settle down on his face, “That’s why I’m gonna go out there, help however I can to put an end to this and come back with a doctor”, he said while watching Jimin’s face, as if he telling him a promise, “So take care of him, please”, there was a brief pause, tense and quiet, “Hyung”, he added with hesitation before standing up and before Jin could let out another futile protest, the boy was already out the door.

***

No matter how many converted werewolves Jaebum and his pack members took down, a dozen or more surged like a plague from the dense thickets that surrounded the territory, as if they were machines waiting to be switched on. It was exhausting and overwhelming and when Jaebum realized it, the pack members had been pushed inside the hamlet, cornered like rats into the center of their own home.

They needed to resist there as long as they could while the pack member that was assigned to alarm the elderly and the youngest to flee the hamlet did what she was ordered to. It had come to a point where accepting their roles as sacrifices would allow the weakest of the pack to live.

As the Head Alpha, Jaebum had been circled by many converted werewolves on his own, isolated from his pack members. There were teeth nipping into his flesh from differents directions, scratches and bites raining down on him. It must’ve been a pathetic sight, the Head Alpha, the protector, the leader, jumping around disoriented and anxious.

“That’s enough”, someone said with a bored tone, a girl that was walking toward Jaebum between his pack members that were cornered into circles of hell, growls and whimpers bringing a flash of pleasure to the young woman strutting her way into the hamlet.

A couple of converted werewolves finally pushed him down, Jaebum’s body resisting with snarls and vicious movements that didn’t do anything but leave him breathless, “Shift”, the girl ordered, crouching down less than a meter from him.

Jaebum’s response was to move around even more aggressively than before, desperate to take a bite of that obnoxious girl. Her smile widened like she had expected that reaction from Jaebum, and with a gesture of her hand, two converted werewolves dragged a body toward them and Jaebum froze with recognition.

Kyuri. She couldn’t be there because that meant that the elderly and the youngest ones were never alerted of Jaebum’s last order to flee the territory, that they were still inside the designated shelters, awaiting like preys in cages. If the pack members that were still holding on here were wiped out, the converted werewolves would probably start to sniff around the hamlet and it’d be a matter of time.

“Shift”, the girl repeated while one of the two converted werewolves moved toward Kyuri’s neck, its mouth wide open with sharp teeth sinking into the flesh, forcing a whimper of pain to come out of Jaebum’s pack member, “Now”.

Jaebum swallowed his snarls, thinking that it was for the best to do as he was asked to, at least for now, even though he hated it with his whole being. Transforming into his human form, the crushing weight of the converted werewolves on top of him pressed him down onto the earth, cheek squished against the soil and getting all sticky with the blood tainting his face.

“Good boy”, the girl said, patting Jaebum’s head with a giggle, as if he was some lapdog to her, “So you’re supposed to be the Head Alpha”, she commented, glancing around the hamlet like she was just checking the disastrous state the whole pack was in, evaluating the shortcomings of Jaebum as a leader. The girl pulled Jaebum’s hair, making him look up directly at her and it appalled him how young her appearance was, probably a teenager who judging by the scent, had presented as a beta not so long ago, “I wonder how is it possible that this pack hasn’t been taken from you already”.

Her fingernail slid down the side of Jaebum’s face, playing with the blood that was smeared against his cheekbone, “I know you have them here”, she sighed with a bored expression, “Trying to make them become friends so the plan wouldn’t succeed”, the girl squinted her eyes with a shrug of her bony shoulders, “It could’ve worked before but we don’t need him anymore”.

Jaebum’s frown deepened, confused at the girl’s rambling and she noticed, “Oh, I see”, she let out before a big smile broke into her face, giving her a feline appearance, “Anyways, we still want the beast back”, she announced, brushing Jaebum’s nose with her cold fingers, “A little present for the big boss, you know? It might get me this territory as a reward”.

She stood up, playing with the end of her long ponytail, “So tell me where is the rest?”, the beta asked him, glancing around the hamlet with a glint of curiosity. At Jaebum’s silence, the girl tilted her head with amused disbelief, “You want me to believe that these are all people you have under your domain? When there are more houses than pack members?”.

Jaebum clenched his jaw, refusing to answer. He’d be damned if he were to open his mouth now. The gesture bothered the beta who in return gave him a strong kick to the side of his face. Jaebum blinked slowly, trying to get rid of the blurry spots in his vision, spitting blood and a tooth with a shake of his head.

“You can break my jaw and I’d still tell you shit”, he managed to say through the dull pain, unsure if his words were intelligible to the girl but deciding it would change nothing if the beta understood his slurred words.

The girl squinted her eyes again, the nonchalance feeling that accompanied the gesture before was gone, and instead, annoyance flared up in her expression, “You seem to be wanting your people to bleed some more”.

Jaebum uselessly struggled under the strength of his restrainers while several converted werewolves dragged four pack members toward them, lining them up next to Kyuri and behind the beta’s back, some of them too weak to even try to fight. Mark and Hyojung were still trying to resist somehow even though their furs matted with blood were weighing them down.

It felt like a public execution and Jaebum didn’t know what to do, how to choose between the lives of his family members who had the chance to not die immediately. Fear crept into him, making him gasp out of despair, his eyes meeting some of the pack members that were still lucid enough to look at him back.

“Now let me ask again”, the girl said, crouching down near Jaebum to capture the desperation in his face, but not in front of him so he could still have the perfect view of his friends being tortured to death, “Where’s the rest?”.

Jaebum’s jaw clenched so hard, he felt like his teeth would break inside his mouth, letting him taste bone and blood while plunging in dread. His whole body was shaking in fury and impotence, so violent it almost seemed like he was convulsing beneath the force of the enemy. Should he speak up and reveal where the elderly and the youngest pups were hiding so the pack members that had fought with him could live a little longer? After all, the sheltered ones would be found sooner or later when the protectors of the pack were to finally be wiped out. Or should he stay quiet and let his people die right in front of his eyes, just to buy a little bit more of time? But for what? The vulnerable pack members weren’t going anywhere, not unless someone went to their hiding to alert them.

Feeling nauseous with the conclusion that either way, Jaebum wouldn’t be able to save anyone's life, Jaebum didn’t notice that he’d been simmering in his own thoughts until a jumbled series of whines and whimpers interrupted his internal deliberation. The guilt knotted itself in the pit of his stomach at the realization his friends were being bitten like preys that were being played with before eating.

“Stop”, Jaebum said, the girl’s eyes widening in pleasure to see the Head Alpha yield, “Do it to me”, he pleaded, knowing that he couldn’t sacrifice his pack members’ lives, not one of them, “Please”.

There was a silent pause before the girl burst out laughing, thoroughly amused by the sight of a Head Alpha begging her desperate on the ground. It was proof that the man was incapable of leading a pack. No leader would prostrate himself like that, so weak and dirty, unable to protect. The fall of a pack was the result of an incompetent Head Alpha and that was exactly what had taken place there tonight.

“Hmm, what should I do as you say?”, the girl asked, the mirth in her voice so palpable that it thickened the tension inside Jaebum’s body, “You think I won’t be able to find them at the end? You have it all wrong”, the beta chuckled, shaking his head slightly like an endeared owner watching his pet do silly tricks, “Sure, it’d take some time but the chasing is pleasurable too”.

Her smile vanished slowly from her pretty face when she spoke up again, “I’m asking because is fun to trouble you like this, though I didn’t expect you to beg”, she said, tapping her chin with one bloody fingertip, “You can see this as a punishment for what you’ve done to the big boss, yeah?”.

“You crazy wench”, Jaebum spat through gritted teeth, to think they were gonna wiped out his pack members just because he rejected the request to get involved in a war against the hunters. It was ridiculous and outrageous.

“So choose who lives”, the girl exclaimed, signaling toward the converted werewolves that had their teeth sunk in the flesh of Jaebum’s pack members, the vulnerable part of their necks about to be snapped by a mere gesture of the beta’s hand.

“I told you to kill me instead”, Jaebum gasped out, glaring at the girl with all the hatred he had inside of his soul.

“Your life”, the beta raised one hand before lifting up the other even higher, “Five lives plus your suffering”, she tilted her head with a fake wince on her face, “Doesn't satisfy me as much”, she added with a cold smirk.

The beta signaled toward the converted werewolves and when the first whimpers of pain started to mix with Jaebum’s desperate yells of wrath, noise at the entrance began to increase so fast and loud even the girl’s attention was caught.

Since his place on the floor, Jaebum couldn’t see anything but the frowning expression the beta was carrying. And suddenly, huge wolves with armed humans riding them flooded into the hamlet, like wild warriors coming for blood. And it baffled Jaebum because who the hell were they. Gunshots accompanied by growls and snarls were ringing around the territory and it took nearly a minute for Jaebum to realize what was going on.

“Shift back!”, he ordered, shouting out repeatedly as loud as he was able to with the weight of the werewolves crushing him down. It was risky to trust hunters and rogues not to kill their pack members, but it was the only way that aid wouldn’t mistake them for the enemy, “Shift back!”.

The beta girl looked as taken aback as Jaebum before her face hardened with understanding, “That idiot”, she murmured with a bitter tone. When she glanced down at Jaebum, she grabbed him by the hair, making him exposed his neck while she transformed her free hand into one paw with sharp claws, “A little gift for my brother”.

But Jaebum was jerked away by the sudden hit the converted werewolves on top of him received, being tackled off Jaebum but forcing him to roll away with them for a couple of meters, enough to put some distance between the Head Alpha and the beta. Jaebum didn’t waste another second, throwing himself at the girl and shifting into his wolf form in mid-air.

The beta gasped and with incredible speed, she turned around while turning into her wolf and swiftly ran away, submerging herself in the chaos and disappearing between the enemies and the allies. Jaebum attempted to follow her but the converted werewolves she left behind closed his path, making a barrier with their own bodies to protect her as their last action.

Frustrated and angry, Jaebum stepped back a bit to see how many converted werewolves were circling him and when he felt another presence behind him, his body stiffened while giving a wary look over his shoulder. It was the black beast of his nightmares, snarling with blood staining its snout. A quick glance toward the converted werewolves that were lying lifeless at its back and Jaebum realized that the force that freed him from his restrainers had been the black beast.

With a growl, the huge wolf passed next to his side like a whirlwind and when Jaebum blinked in surprise, it was already rolling away with a converted werewolf whimpering in pain. Shaking his head because it wasn’t the moment to analyze whether he could trust the creature that wouldn’t let him sleep at night, Jaebum ran and jumped toward the nearest converted werewolves.

The war the enemy was asking for had initiated then, in that small hamlet, putting in danger the lives of the innocents Jaebum had wanted to protect by refusing the request he’d received many nights ago. But no matter how hard they’d tried to avoid it, the beginning battle broke loose on that night and Jaebum was afraid that in the end, the pack had lost more than they would have if he, as the Head Alpha, had agreed to get involved from the very start.

That’s what he thought when the converted werewolves were annihilated and the rogues were helping to carry the injured ones to the cabins, the bodies of the deceased ones lined up on the center of the hamlet, humbly covered by large pieces of cloth. Still feeling uneasy about the presence of the hunters inside of his territory, Jaebum decided to leave the sheltered ones in the hiding for a bit longer.

They were doing nothing more than waiting with unreadable expressions on their faces, appearing cautious and weapons tightly gripped in their hands. But it wasn’t like Jaebum had expected them to help out with the afterward of the battle. He would’ve actually found suspicious the act of kindness because the hunters had helped them out this time but at what cost.

“Jaebum”, he glanced up from the covered corpses that were lying in front of him to look at the tall alpha, cradling a jacket between his long arms as if he was carrying a newborn, “I’m sorry for your loss and for interrupting your grieving like this”, Namjoon licked his dry lips, a bit of sadness noticeable in his expression though his voice was firm and urgent, “But I have something to show”, he gazed at the hunter crowding the space near the entrance, their own people being treated in the infirmary, “In private”, Namjoon added before walking toward the cabin where they’d been having a meeting hours ago.

Jaebum felt too tired to feel anything but sorrow toward the pack members that have died in battle and with one last look of regret and guilt, he stood up and followed Namjoon’s steps like he had never done since the night the alpha had left them for the first time. He couldn’t bother to feel annoyance toward the other, too caught up in the mess inside his head to realize Namjoon was waiting for a reaction.

“What?”, Jaebum asked, noticing they were inside the quiet room designated for meetings and on the surface of the table next to them was lying the jacket, Namjoon rummaged inside one of the pockets to carefully pull out a broken syringe with a strange liquid staining its inner walls, “What’s that?”.

“The drug that they’ve been using to convert werewolves into alphas”, Namjoon explained, with eyes widened in horrified amazement, “Or rather, in beasts without human consciousness”.