Work Text:
It’s white, so much white and his usually perfect eyesight leaves him hanging a lot.
He shouldn’t have stayed away so far from the rest of his small pack, from his alpha but now, with the wind howling and the snow falling heavily around him, Taehyung simply isn’t able to see or smell anything at all.
He feels how Nari shivers beneath him, pressing her body against his hind legs to hide from the rigid wind. His small baby girl is probably scared and freezing and he needs to find a shelter from the storm for the two of them rather sooner than later.
Taehyung squints his eyes, trying to see something, anything but for now, it seems that the storm isn’t going to fade away so soon. He growls, a low sound, before he bends over a little to look at Nari. They’re still bonded, have been since her birth and she understands him, carefully coming out of her makeshift shelter. Taehyung gently lifts her up by her neck, not hurting her with his fangs and rushes through the icy breeze as fast as his paws carry him.
It’s getting dark soon, night will fall over the land faster as he may be able to imagine and neither he nor Nari are going to survive the night without some kind of shelter.
He runs for a while until he almost dashes into a rock wall but luckily he sees it soon enough to stop. And just a few steps further, Taehyung thinks that maybe the Moon Goddess decided to have mercy with him and Nari, there’s a cave in the rock wall and Taehyung hurries to reach it before the storm gets too heavy.
Once he’s inside the cave, he releases Nari from his hold and ushers her towards the farthest corner of the cave so she’s protected enough. Taehyung’s going to shield her even more with his own body but before he joins his daughter, he lets out a long, desperate howl, hoping that it somehow might reach his pack, his Jungkook.
Then, he rushes towards Nari, who’s looking at him with her beautiful blue eyes, wide with fear but Taehyung gently licks across the spot between her ears which usually calms her down, has since the day she was born.
The pup indeed calms down and Taehyung curls around her to keep her warm because even when they’re in that cave now, it’s still freezing cold…
~*~
“Let me go!”, Jungkook growls and tries to free himself from Namjoon’s hold but the older’s arms around him are unyielding.
“Don’t be stupid, Jungkook! I’m not letting you go out there, not now!”, he yells, using all his strength to hold the younger alpha back, to stop him from bolting out into the white hell and towards certain death.
“Don’t call me stupid, hyung!”, is the loud reply he gets, “My mate is out there, somewhere, all alone! I can’t just leave him hanging like this!”
“And you’re not doing this, Jungkook-ah!”, Hoseok tries to reason with him, rests his palm against the younger’s biceps and squeezes gently, “Taehyung wouldn’t want you to rush out there without any hint or idea where to go and he for sure wouldn’t want you to get lost as well.”
“But!”, he tries, “Nari’s out there too.”
“And Tae’s protecting her with all his might. You know him”, Jimin chimes in, “He’d rather let himself freeze than your baby girl.” Jungkook’s shoulders slump slightly and the tension vanishes from his body. He looks miserable, but who wouldn’t under these circumstances…?
“Hey, Kook-ah, we understand you”, Seokjin says, “Taehyung’s your mate but he’s also part of our family, so we’re equally worried!”
Yoongi hums. “And you know how smart he is. If someone’s going to survive in the wilderness, it’s Tae. He’ll find shelter for himself and Nari. Don’t worry about him.”
Jungkook gives in, he’s still on edge and very concerned but his pack mates are right. It’s dangerous outside and it’s getting dark already. He didn’t see anything while it was still day but during night time, it’s just getting more dangerous. He sighs and Namjoon dares to let go of him.
“I don’t know how to go through the night…”, the youngest mumbles and walks over to the small couch in Namjoon’s hut. He sits down and Hoseok’s right by his side.
“We’re all here with you, Jungkook, we’re in this together. And as soon as it stops snowing tomorrow, we’ll be out there, looking for them, I promise!”
Jungkook hums. But he’s sure that they’re all thinking the same… What if it doesn’t stop snowing until morning? He doesn’t say anything and just leans his head against Hoseok’s shoulder. The older always meant comfort to him, just like Seokjin who plops down next to Jungkook on the other side.
“Hey, Kook-ah, what do you think about food?”, Seokjin says while he gently runs his fingers through the younger’s hair, “Do you want to help me? We’re all hungry and exhausted and we need some rest and energy for tomorrow, okay?”
Jungkook nods. “I’ll help you”, he replies. He’s not in the mood but Hoseok wraps his arms around his shoulders and hugs him.
“I’ll help too”, he says and a few moments later, the rest of the pack can see how Jungkook’s waddling towards Namjoon’s kitchen, Hoseok clinging to his back and Seokjin follows them.
Nobody’s really in the mood to do something funny, to laugh because all of them are concerned about Taehyung’s and Nari’s whereabouts but it’s just adorable how Hoseok clings to Jungkook.
The others talk to each other quietly, giving each other comfort. It’s not easy because quite often their thoughts drift away to Taehyung and Nari.
It doesn’t take long for Seokjin and Jungkook to finish cooking, even though it’s a little bit harder for the younger than usual with Hoseok clinging to him but they eat soon.
Then, they talk about this and that until Jungkook dozes off with his head on Seokjin’s shoulder but jerks awake only a short while after.
“Kook, what’s wrong?”, Yoongi, seated next to Namjoon, looks past his mate, his eyes concerned.
“I… need to go and look for them, my babies…”, the younger whispers, eyes wide, scared and it’s a rare sight to see. Jungkook’s one of the most fearless alphas they’ve all met and he’s almost never scared. He was however, when Nari’s birth approached and a few years earlier, when he and Taehyung had just mated and a rogue alpha tried to claim the gorgeous omega as his property despite his still healing mating mark. But otherwise, Jungkook’s fearless, rather protective.
“W-what if they’re snowed in…?”, he asks, Seokjin’s hand resting on his thigh. “Kookie, we already talked about this. You can’t go out there right now. Listen, TaeTae is a wolf, he knows how to survive in the wilderness and you can’t do much right now. He probably found a cave or something else he can use as shelter. Maybe even an abandoned cottage in the forest, I don’t know. But he’s okay and Nari as well. She’s with him so she can’t be anything else than okay, you know that. Jungkook-ah, Tae trusts you. He trusts you to not run around during the icy night to find him, so you better trust him to come back to you. And when it dawns, we’ll be out there again, looking everywhere for him. Now, calm down!”
Seokjin gently, but relentlessly pulls Jungkook’s head back against his shoulder. “I’m here, Jungkook-ah and so are the others and we’ll find them, I promise.”
Seokjin Is probably risking a lot, promising Jungkook something he doesn’t know if it will come true or not but for their sake, for the pack's sake, he needs to. Everyone wants Taehyung and Nari to be safe and he’s actually very sure that Taehyung managed to find a safe place for them.
“Come, rest a little”, he says and Jungkook really tries to calm down but he doesn’t manage to doze off again. He stays awake, just as the rest of his pack. They’re still gathering by the crackling fireside and ready to head out once the night fades. It’s exhausting, the hours passing by slowly and Jungkook sometimes stops by at the window to look outside, to stare at the snowflakes he can see falling and he hopes that it will stop soon.
Seokjin helps him stay awake by brewing coffee and feeding him with snacks and Jungkook’s grateful to have his hyungs by his side. He’d probably gone insane by now without them.
It’s in the early morning hours, water splashing from the small kitchen because Hoseok and Seokjin are cleaning the used dishes, Namjoon and Yoongi are cuddling on the couch, when Jimin informs them that the snow has stopped.
Jungkook, who’s been playing with a stray thread dangling from his socks, jumps to his feet in the blink of an eye and shifts, not caring much about his clothes. When he has Taehyung back, he can still get dressed in something else, something that’s not ripped into pieces now.
Everyone else in the room knows, they can’t stop him so they just join and follow Jungkook outside.
They leave the pack grounds as fast as their paws carry them. Jungkook’s far ahead of them, his only traces a longing howl and a lot of swirled up snow.
~*~
Taehyung jolts awake in the early morning hours. It’s still dim outside, he can see faint light coming from the entrance of the cave when he opens his eyes. He’s alive, made it through the night but he’s exhausted because he didn’t sleep properly. Dozed off a few times, yes, but he was too concerned about Nari’s well-being to actually fall asleep.
Speaking of Nari. His head whips around, frantically looking for the small, black and white bundle of fur he last saw curled against him a few hours before. And there she is, sleeping soundly, breathing evenly and Taehyung can see small puffs of air turning into mist because of the freezing temperatures. This calms him down, seeing that his precious pup is doing fine. Just a few seconds later, Nari starts waking up. She probably felt her dad’s distress because of their bond and her eyes slowly open.
Taehyung gently nudges her side before he tries to get up, to stretch his body because he’s feeling quite frozen. He shielded his baby from the cold but he was exposed to it full force.
He slowly shakes his body, telling Nari to stay in place and stalks towards the exit.
A few tiny snowflakes are still falling from the sky but overall, the heavy blizzard stopped, probably not too long ago. Taehyung blinks because despite the dim light outside it’s bright, too bright for his eyes that are used to the darkness of the cave.
And suddenly, after looking around and scanning the area, he feels like panicking… because he recognizes absolutely nothing. It’s all covered by so much snow, everything looks the same and smells weirdly. Taehyung should be well affiliated with the area but… no… how’s he supposed to find his way back home now? Especially with a 5 months old pup now…?
He huffs when his ears perk up at a faint sound. Something, he thinks he imagined right after he heard it but a few seconds later, he hears it again - it’s a faint howl and Taehyung knows it. He knows that sound so well, and got used to it since he was a pup himself. Because Hoseok’s always been with him and Jungkook and Taehyung simply knows that he’d recognize his voice absolutely everywhere.
The howl repeats and more voices join and Taehyung knows they're looking for him.
And he needs to help them because that white hell can be so confusing.
He rushes back to Nari, who’s sitting in the same spot where he left her and looks at him with wide eyes. Taehyung knows she wants to go home too so he ushers her out of the cave, into the snow and now, when there's no blizzard anymore, Nari doesn’t seem too scared of the white fluff around her anymore. She playfully bites into the snow, jumps around and yips happily. It really warms Taehyung’s heart despite the circumstances they’re still in.
But then, another howl is heard in the distance and Nari looks up. Because it's Jungkook's voice. She blinks, eyes wide before she takes a step into the direction where she assumes the howl to come from. Taehyung follows and after another distant sound, his pup dashes away. He follows her after emitting a loud howl himself and quickly, he's beside her again. Together they run towards their pack but after 10 minutes, Nari slows down. Her tiny body isn't used to long ranges yet and Taehyung adjusts his pace to hers.
He still hears the others calling for them and Nari stops abruptly, emitting a tiny howl herself. All of them reply and their voices are so much closer than before.
Taehyung thinks that it's maybe better to wait for them, right where he and Nari are now so he's not risking to maybe go into the wrong direction and miss meeting his pack. So, he waits, Nari close by his side. Taehyung knows that his pup is exhausted but also excited to meet the others again. Taehyung gently nuzzles her side and Nari playfully bites into his leg. Her fangs don't really hurt so Taehyung lets her chew on him while they wait.
He can't exactly say how much time passes until he smells something different than just snow and trees and he looks up. It's a scent that calls home to him but all of his pack mates' scents do. As soon as he looks up, he can see a bundle of brown fur running towards him. It's Jimin and Taehyung knows the older is excited and glad that he found him but if he keeps up that kind of speed, he'll probably crash right into him and Nari. But the closer Jimin comes, the more he slows down and comes to a stop a few meters away from Taehyung.
Then, he comes towards him, gently rubs his nose against Taehyung's and howls again to call the others. Taehyung knows they can't be far away.
The huge snow cloud at the horizon confirms his assumption and soon, his other five pack members are close to them. Jimin's quick to make some room for Jungkook who immediately presses his muscular body against Taehyung's. Nari snuggles against him too, happy to see her father again.
One after the other gathers around the mates and their pup, because Taehyung must be freezing but this only lasts for a few moments. Jungkook looks at him and Taehyung knows what he's telling him. "Let's go home."
Yoongi leads them - he probably has the best orientation and just around three hours later, they make it to their pack grounds but Taehyung's sure that never in this world he would've made it home during the blizzard and while it was dark. But he's so happy to be back. Back home where it's warm and where his mate and his pack are. Taehyung doesn't even bother to shift back into his human form while Namjoon, in his human form, ignites the fireplace only to shift back and join the pile of wolves in front of the fireplace.
Jungkook and Taehyung are both curled around Nari who's sleeping soundly, protected from all sides. Taehyung's head rests on Jungkook's front paws and the alpha gently licks the spot between his mate's ears from time to time to give him comfort and love.
Jimin and Yoongi huddle up against Taehyung while Hoseok and Seokjin rest beside Jungkook. Namjoon lays down next to Yoongi to complete their little cuddle pile.
This is home, all of them together. And it’s all Taehyung’s ever going to need - Jungkook, Nari and all his other precious pack members. His found family.