Chapter Text
Picking up yet another piece of paper, Changbin checked the instructions once again just to make sure that he had them down correctly before he started to fold the square over with nimble fingers. A couple of the new intake were eyeing the rose pink furred wolf with odd eyes but Changbin was more than used to it. Used to having other wolves gawk at his unusual colouring, used to being immediately mistaken as an omega because he carried a sweet marshmallow scent that many missed the undertones of a warming fire because they made presumptions. Generally he didn’t mind, it was fun to see peoples surprised reactions when they learnt he was an alpha but overall, those who were bothered by it weren’t the type of wolves that Changbin wanted to associate with.
Plus he had chatted to a few of the new intake who were going through the lovely tradition of making paper flowers to add to the wall of the JYP building, something that the main man had started when he first made the company and always encouraged the new starters to make a paper flower to put on the wall with their name on it. Because they were all a budding flower and whilst not all of them would make it, it was the fact that they had tried to push through that made them all special and unique.
Changbin had made one for himself within the first few minutes, helped a few others out and then sat boredly waiting for the others to finish off. Some of them were really bad at making origami flowers and just to give himself something to do, he started making others. He presumed that he could just keep them or gift them to those who were less successful or something. But there was a certain fidgetiness to him, that the alpha couldn’t quite understand.
His inner wolf was pawing in agitation around his mind, grumbly and growling as if someone had offended him but there was no one who had done so. Changbin had been introduced to the staff, introduced to the new trainees, and everything had gone relatively smoothly up until this point so there was nothing that should be agitating him right now. But there was and his inner wolf wanted nothing more than to ditch the paper flowers and go searching for whatever it was that was making him angsty.
Changbin sighed and mentally prodded at his wolf, trying to get an answer.
Hurt! Rejected! Need to bite someone! Came the instinctive reply which did not help Changbin in the slightest but he did not get that frustrated with the wolf. Sometimes his wilder instincts clicked onto things far in advance of when his rational mind did and it was just something that he had learned to live with over the years. Some wolves were really in tune with their natural instincts, others could barely read them, Changbin sat in the middle most of the time and never really let himself be bothered by it.
Until the scents of chocolate biscuits and mochi caught his attention. Because they were very complimentary scents that worked so well together that his wolf was instantly soothed by them. Then picked up with a growl as Changbin and his wolf recognised the sour bitterness of a distressed and upset omega.
He turned his head to locate the source and felt his heartrate escalate to a million miles an hour. There was a gorgeous blue grey omega standing by ones of the lifts on the opposite side of the lobby, with a small sand coloured cub next to him. The cub had the largest ears that Changbin had ever seen in his life, along with a poofy tail in the same colour with a white tip to his tail, making him look completely adorable and just the perfect cuddle buddy in the entire world that Changbin was surprised that he hadn’t already rushed across to do just that. But his attention had mainly been caught by the blue grey wolf who was about average height, a little on the bigger side due to muscles more than anything else and just the softest looking curls of black hair peaking out from under his cap. He looked so mysteriously handsome that Changbin did not even realise that he had fallen that hard until much later in the day. Plus they smelt divine and the alpha would be happy to indulge in that scent forever if he could do so.
His wolf was howling in joy, almost leaping forward then and there, chanting constantly Mate! Mate! Our Mate! Cubby! Our Cubby! Go get! Go get now!
Changbin hadn’t even realised that he had stood up until the omega raised his head sharply, as if the movement had startled him and instinctively pulled the cub closer to his body. A sudden coldness covered the pink furred wolf, as even though the omega was wearing a face mask, he could see the harsh outline of a of a red mark that was clearly an hand print. His inner alpha roared at the very notion of anyone daring to even think about hurting this precious little omega and he felt his heart break at the look of anguish that crossed his face.
The omega quickly looked down, pulling the cub closer to his body and began hurriedly moving away towards an alpha who was impatiently waiting near to the exit doors. Changbin had briefly noticed him before, but dismissed him as being no one of importance as he was a common grey wolf who stank of burnt grasses which normally meant that he was angry. Outwardly though, the alpha looked smug and prideful, grabbing the omega by his shirt to pull him close as if to kiss him in public which just soured the omega’s scent more. The alpha however actually fucking preened due to this and said something that Changbin couldn’t hear that caused the omega to whimper and the cub to release a tiny little distress call.
Changbin was several steps into rushing across the floor when he felt someone grab onto the back of his shirt and haul him back. Agitation filled his entire being as he turned to snap towards the intruder who was trying to interrupt his task of going to rescue his mate from that vile fucking alpha, only to find himself in the claws of Jackson Wang who looked just as he felt but shook his head, “Don’t do anything crazy, you’ll only upset him more.”
Confusion filled Changbin, causing him to grumble before he turned back to where his omega and precious cub had been to find all three of them gone. He whined and found himself dropped to the floor, but caught hold of quickly once again, “Get off me! I’m going to go kick that bastards tail,” Changbin bit out, frustrated that he couldn’t go and cause issues right this second.
“Believe me, I would let you go if I thought it would help,” Jackson said, his voice soft and soothing, “but there are some things you need to know first before you go flying head first into that useless prick to try and take Chan away from him.”
The fight left Changbin as he realised that he had an ally in Jackson, even if he should be grovelling at the others feet because hello, this was Jackson Wang he was speaking too in a way too casual manner but his wild instincts were controlling most of his movements by now so he wasn’t exactly thinking with a sensible head. Thankfully he recognised the offer of help though, even in his must protect mate now mindset to tilt his head curiously towards the other.
Jackson blinked, seemed to ponder something and then tilted his head in the opposite direction before walking off. Changbin did not pause as he began to follow, glad that the staff who had been watching over the new intake seemed to be accepting of this situation which got the alpha thinking. There had been the same anger in the staffs eyes that had matched with Jackson’s, was it that there were many wolves in the building that did not like the omega being with that alpha just like him? If so, why hadn’t they done anything about it before, especially if there were clear signs of abuse going on.
They ended up in a quiet little studio, the door with a massive window slit in it so that they could still be seen but it was unlikely that anyone was going to interrupt them. Changbin started to feel a little on the uneasy side now that he was directly facing the other and beginning to realise that he may have just acted like a total arsehole in front of everyone. However a gentle smirk was sent his way from the other alpha, “First off, thank you.”
Changbin’s jaw dropped as he stared at the other, “Pardon?”
Jackson chuckled, “I mean it, seriously, thank you.”
“For what?” Changbin asked, still amazed that he was being thanked right now.
Jackson sighed, “You’re the first alpha in a long while whose actively reacted to seeing Chan like that, most just stared and then find out information afterwards only to immediately back off. If I hadn’t have stopped you, you would be in a very bad place right now.”
Changbin took a moment to process all this, “Hang on, what? You mean others have noticed the marks and the clear scent of desperation coming off my mate and no one has done anything to help?”
Holding up his hands in surrender, Jackson let out a long sigh, “Cool off a minute man, there’s a lot you don’t know and once you hear it all, maybe you’ll understand why no one has been able to help him…though from your last sentence, I’m praying that you’re the one we’ve been missing all this time.”
That made Changbin settle back in his chair, eyes respectfully demanding that he get an explanation now as he was pretty sure he could follow that sweet chocolate biscuit scent straight to the source in less than five minutes otherwise. He knew that at some point he would probably have to deal with the consequences of his actions, as the alpha knew he was being anything but the polite newbie that he should be but he also got the feeling that Jackson did not care about that.
Jackson took another deep breath, bringing his hands together in front of himself almost as if he were trying to desperately not to get angry or break down himself. “You see the thing is, Chan is the most adorable and sweetest omega you’ll ever meet. He’s devoted, so precious and silly and cuddly and he absolutely adores his baby cub Jeongin who I’ll not even start on right now cause I would go on and on about him for hours…but somehow…well…I suppose I need to know if you’re family pack is part of the Clans or not?”
Changbin felt his heart drop a little, “My immediate family is not, as my father left to start his own breakaway pack with my rogue mother but we’re on the sidelines and sort of keep up with things though we don’t live by their codes or anything.”
“So if I say to you the Bang Clan, you’ll know what I mean?” Jackson asked.
The pink furred wolf froze for a second before nodding, “Yeah, I know that Clan.” Everyone in the Clan system knew the Bang Clan, it was one of the higher ranked families that held the greatest artisans of history in their ancestry. It was said that many of their wolves were extremely well versed in music, dance, art and a whole host of other talents but were also a very humble pack who could lead when required to do so.
“Is Chan part of that Clan?” Changbin asked, gently and with understanding.
“He is, but a branch that moved off to Australia and then he returned independently to make music,” Jackson smiled, “I don’t know quite how it happened, but he was under the protection of the Kim Clan here in Seoul and that’s where he met…” Jackson paused, almost as if saying the name he was about to utter was a disgusting thing to do, “Woojin. Everything was fine at first, he came to classes with us all, vibed so well and presented as he was supposed to – as he was a soft boy from the start and we all knew he was going to be an omega regardless of what some people will say – and we got put together as a group which we were all ecstatic about because it meant that me and my pack mates could keep Woojin away from Chan.”
“Was Woojin the grey alpha with the smirk yet stinking scent?” Changbin asked, having already marked him as a total twat but wanting to make sure who he was going after.
Jackson nodded, “He was not happy about being separated from Chan in such a manner. He had always been around him since he showed up, clearly the Kim Clan decided that it would be good to keep the two as friends but Woojin was a brat. He was rude towards virtually everyone, always wanted to been involved with Chan’s projects and never seemed to want to give him a break. When Chan was in our group, we thought that we’d be finally able to break him out of that terrible cycle, give him protection and just have him be an healthy omega.”
A terrible shadow crossed over Jackson’s face, “Then one morning, when we were rehearsing, we got called for a meeting and Chan was cut from Got7. I can’t even remember the bullshit lines that were given to explain, they just said he was not to be part of the group anymore and then he was being moved out and we thought he’d go back to the dorms but it wasn’t.”
The alpha paused, taking a deep breath, “I’ve never told another alpha this, but I think you need to know it in advance if you want to pursue your claim of Chan being your mate. We only learnt after the fact, once everything was done and sealed, but Woojin had claimed Chan back to him with some arranged mating documents that cannot be proven to be bullshit. He took the omega away, we do not know where, and when he came back, Chan was ‘mated’ to Woojin and pregnant…though he bares no mark nor scent of the alpha. In fact, I’m pretty sure he got involved with a Kitsune because he wears half of an love necklace which cannot be removed.”
Changbin opened his mouth to speak but Jackson held up his hand, “I’ve met numerous Kitsune in my time, they’re more abundant in China than Korea and believe me I’ve seen false mates try to touch those necklaces and they cannot be. Mark has the saddest yet funniest video of the fucking idiot trying to do something to that necklace, I’ll have to get it to you.”
“Where’s the kitsune now?” Changbin asked, a tiny bit peeved that there was someone else on the scene but maybe they could be a future potential ally.
Jackson shook his head, “No idea. Chan refuses to tell anyone anything about them, only acknowledges that it’s an alpha who fathered Jeongin. He’s not Woojin’s but since no one can get close to the pair to prove anything, we’re utterly stuck. Occasionally we get chances to speak, that’s how I know so much but any time in the past we’ve tried something, the Kim Clan gets involved and shuts down everything because it’s Clan Business.”
The pair fell into silence for a few seconds, Changbin pondering all of this information through before he stood up, “Clan Business, you say?”
Jackson blinked, “Yes, it makes it impossible to do much of anything because of the sway the clan has in the city…”
Changbin grinned, “Well, I suppose they’ll need a little humbling of their own once I’m done with them.”
“What do you mean?” Jackson standing up, looking slightly concerned as if he did not expect this kind of reaction to all the information that Changbin had just dumped at his paws. It was understandable, as most would definitely want to pack off when they realised just how deep the Clan system went as it was extremely hard to navigate unless one was a member of the Clan and therefore would not be involved with the modern politics of the city. “You do realise that going up against the Kim Clan is next to impossible right? They have influence everywhere and don’t get me started on the fuckery that they’re supposed to sort out.”
Changbin sighed a little, “I never told you my name, did I Jackson sunbaenim?”
A sudden look of interest mixed with suspicion crept across Jackson’s face, “No, because I never asked you for it even though I recognised you’re reaction as a peeved off alpha mate to Chan.”
A smile crossed the other alpha’s face, “Seo Changbin, at your service.”
Jackson’s face took on a comic look of uttermost shock. Seo Changbin. SEO! One of the most ancient clans in the entire world who held sway over much of the Asian continents. They were one of the packs that had the widest influence and reach as they always celebrated diversity and expanding the horizon and were generally as free as birds to go where they wanted and do as they pleased. However, once they found a place to settle down and call their own, they would ensure that it was the best place for them, their family and every other family that came their way. They established a number of towns, industries, governments, ancient and modern and were always at the forefront of every decision made in their chosen country or place of residence. They were firm and strict, but also craved the next generation to go off and explore the world to find their own place and it was a fool who dared to try and cross them.
“But you said you were on the sidelines?” Jackson asked, wondering if it were a ruse or not.
Changbin grinned, “More like the Black Sheep of the family as my Dad didn’t take over the town we’re in as Mayor or anything as he just wanted to run the restaurant he owns and not be bothered b all that but I still know more than enough people who can check on this arranged mating bullshit as that sort of thing was stopped a long time ago. If it’s true, then I’ll get my mate out of there and his cub as well.”
Jackson raised his eyebrow at that statement, which caused Changbin to let out a sigh, “the Cub let out a distress call, wanting someone to come and help his mother. Meaning that he doesn’t want to near that scumbag either.”
“Geeze, you’re really going all out on this huh?” Jackson said, folding his arms but then sighing, “Though before you go, I need to confirm something.”
“What?” Changbin asked.
“That you are Chan’s mate,” Jackson spoke in a tone that was challenging, “He’s been my friend for years and I’ve seen the shit that fucking useless alpha has put him through so I’m not going to just hand him over to anyone, I hope you can understand that. “
The pink furred wolf blinked and nodded in acceptance, “Where’s the mark located?”
Jackson seemed impressed that Changbin knew what he was referring to but did not speak it out loud. Instead he tapped his left hand shoulder. Changbin quickly ditched his jacket and pulled up the sleeve of the t-shirt that he was wearing peering awkwardly at the skin. There had always been an oddly shaped dry patch of skin there that itched irregularly, but now there was a clear black outline and he twisted his arm up at a funny angle to see it clearly. It looked like a worm character with a cute little face that made Changbin grin madly at the sight of it.
“Well, that’s confirmed,” Jackson said, shaking his head, before the pair swapped numbers so that they could both remain in contact. “Just promise me that you’ll be good to him.”
“I’ll be the best for him,” Changbin nodded and headed back out, he had a lot of work to do it seemed but there was also the induction to the company to finish off as well. But he did send an immediate, urgent email to his Aunt, knowing that she would be one of the best people to contact for getting the ball rolling on possible fake mating claims. “I’ll come and save you soon, Chan, I promise,” he whispered under his breath, sending prayers to Amarok herself that he would indeed be able to help the omega and his cub out of their terrible situation without causing either of them too much hurt.