Chapter Text
~~
Jackson slowed his steps, circling the area silently as he locked in on the scent of fresh prey. It hadn’t noticed him yet, so Jackson only continued to circle closer, staying low and waiting for that perfect moment to strike.
He couldn’t afford to be impatient now, the pack was too desperate. He himself was too desperate, too hungry to imagine letting this rabbit get away.
It wasn’t even winter yet, but already, they were struggling. No one was quite sure of the exact cause, but earlier that fall, a mysterious epidemic had suddenly hit the area. Luckily, it didn’t seem to affect shifters (or even humans, for that matter), but as far as they could tell, nearly all other wild mammals in the vicinity were at risk.
Most catastrophic for the pack was the deer population that already been down this year was now at such a dangerously scarce level that their alpha, Taecyeon, had declared a ban on hunting them altogether, despite their own desperate situation. There was legitimate fear that their local deer population would be eliminated altogether otherwise.
They weren’t quite sure exactly how far the epidemic had reached, either. Their pack’s official territory covered a good 60 square miles, and not a corner of it had been spared.
Apparently, Taecyeon had been discussing with Minjun the possibility of a temporary move, but that idea had been met by both unease and hesitant unwillingness from the rest of the pack.
It wasn’t so much the idea of living as humans for a while that scared them, but the notion that they had to live among other humans. Jackson’s pack wasn’t an entirely feral group of shifters; it was actually quite the contrary. They hunted as wolves and, quite frankly, spent at least half of their time fully shifted, but still maintained a human village with basic functioning infrastructure. It lay in the center of their territory, composed of a few shabby-looking but sturdy huts. All pups received a competent basic education, and were required to master human etiquette and social skills.
Either way, Jackson himself wasn’t too keen on the idea of hiding out with humans for a while. But unlike his pack-mates, his reason was still a bit different. With his very few encounters with the fragile beings, he really hadn’t thought they were all that bad.
Instead, Jackson’s concern was that the teasing would become unbearable if they ever had to live with humans.
Jackson’s situation was a bit...unique, to say the least. He was the only non-purebred wolf shifter in their entire pack. Three-fourths wolf and one-fourth husky, to be exact. His grandmother on his father’s side had been the one to join a pack of wolf shifters. And not just join a pack, but become the new alpha female.
For the most part, if you were unaware of Jackson’s heritage, it’d be impossible to identify him as such just from physical observation. He was a bit on the smaller side, yes, but his stockiness and powerful muscles more than compensated for what he lacked in height.
But still, his puppy-ish behavioral tendencies were what gave it away. Wolves were already very tactile creatures with strong bonds rooted in physical contact, but Jackson often craved affection and affirmation beyond a point of wolfy reason. He lived to please, and that tell-tale wag of his tail when he couldn’t control himself only served as a reminder of his “unpure” origins.
He was teased about it on a regular basis, nothing too serious as Taecyeon kept everyone in line- and of course not everyone treated him differently- but still. Jackson was fully aware of the few who would gladly see him booted from the pack for the sole reason of lineage. He could only imagine how bad the “dog” and “puppy” and “oh look there’s your master” jokes would get if they actually had to live among humans for a time.
So currently, the best thing he could do to avoid this crisis was to help the pack hunt as much as possible. Jackson couldn’t help a feral grin when he finally got close enough to the rabbit that the white underside of its tail was visible.
Jaws opened, a large pink tongue running over sharp teeth in anticipation.
It was at this moment that the rabbit also noticed the precarious situation it was in. In a flash it was off, dashing away in an attempt to escape with its life.
Unfortunately for the rabbit, Jackson had been ready.
With a powerful leap, Jackson pounced, jaws snapping mercilessly through the neck of the poor creature, teeth puncturing the jugular instantaneously. The rabbit only managed to kick a few times weakly before going completely limp.
Jackson almost let out a howl of glee, but luckily with his mouth so preoccupied, he wasn’t able to. Carefully, he deposited the rabbit on the ground, sniffing at it carefully in an attempt to determine if it had been healthy.
Satisfied, he’d been just about to pick it back up to bring back to their village, when a shadow suddenly fell over him.
Startled, Jackson looked up, only to have his eyes forced shut by a sudden fierce gust of wind. There was a swooshing noise, and when Jackson finally managed to open his eyes, he was greeted by the sight of his prey being snatched up by a red-tailed hawk.
Jackson immediately snarled, lunging forward with his claws outstretched in an attempt to bring down the bird. The hawk let out a screech as it angled itself dangerously in order to avoid Jackson’s claws, straining to keep aflight.
It was now that Jackson probably unconsciously registered the fact that this raptor was no ordinary bird of prey, but a shifter. This was also probably why his jaws chose to close around the rabbit instead of feathers.
There was a brief struggle, a few seconds when both were caught in the tense struggle, neither able to gain the upper hand. And then Jackson lost his balance, unable to grapple with his two front paws while only being supported by his two hind legs. He unwillingly dropped to the ground but dragged the hawk down with him, its wings flapping frantically as it attempted to avoid being crushed.
By some stroke of luck, the hawk managed to regain control, just barely clinging onto the rabbit as it mustered enough strength to shoot itself backwards a few feet, before finally plummeting to the ground, talons still firmly embedded in the flesh of the rabbit.
The moment Jackson’s paws had touched the ground he was already snarling and rushing forward at the fallen bird, teeth bared in anger.
There was no time for the hawk to be able to take flight, but dodging would’ve been an easy enough matter. Jackson anticipated as much but didn’t particularly care; his goal was the meal behind.
But even as Jackson barreled closer, instead of leaping out of the way, the hawk chose to stand it’s ground, letting out a challenging shriek as it spread its wings, guarding the dead rabbit behind it.
Jackson skidded to a stop, glaring at the hawk in disbelief. He growled threateningly, snapping his jaws, but the sharp gaze of the hawk remained firm, and it screeched out a determined cry in response.
So they were at a standoff. The hawk, the suicidal idiot, usually would be no match for Jackson here on the ground. It seemed, however, that it’d caught onto the fact that Jackson was unwilling to hurt him. It had been a gamble, and he’d lucked out.
They probably stood there for a good two minutes, just glaring at each other. And still, both refused to budge.
Jackson had never been a particularly patient person, so it wasn’t exactly surprising when he was the first to make a concession. Not being able to communicate was especially starting to drive him crazy.
So, while eying the hawk warily in an attempt to ensure it didn’t suddenly fly off, Jackson backed up a few steps. When the hawk didn’t move, Jackson quickly shifted into half-form, and then re-advanced forwards. The hawk flared its wings slightly in surprise, but didn’t make any move to flee.
“I caught it, give it back.” Jackson said bluntly.
The hawk only rustled its feathers, gaze piercing as it stared up at Jackson. Its head cocked slightly to one side, as if considering.
The next moment, a red-haired boy stood in its place.
Jackson found himself taking an involuntary step back in surprise; he hadn’t expected the hawk to so willingly follow suit.
As typical of all bird Shifters, the boy was built lightly; average height and slim, but with toned, even muscle. His features were delicate, but the overall sharpness of his angles made him look far from effeminate.
“Well, I saw it first, so what do you say we do?” The boy finally replied. His voice was lower than Jackson would’ve expected from first glance, and it was said with a coldness that declared his determined intent.
“No matter what, I’m the one who made the kill,” Jackson’s eyes narrowed, unrelenting. The other boy only shrugged.
“Well it’s behind me right now.”
And that was when Jackson struck. He suddenly surged forward, faking a left before dashing right and around the other boy. It was now that Jackson noticed how the other boy seemed to be favoring one foot over the other as he attempted to block Jackson, only to stumble back gingerly, hopping on his right foot.
Within seconds, it was over. Jackson successful swiped the dead rabbit off the ground and quickly danced backwards out of reach. But that turned out to be unnecessary as the other boy made no move to follow, instead teetering dangerously on one foot, face stiff with what Jackson could only assume was pain.
At this point, what Jackson should’ve done was shift back to wolf form, and immediately leave the scene with his kill and head back to his pack. He had gotten what he’d come for, and there was no point risking another confrontation.
But Jackson hesitated.
Looking back over his shoulder, Jackson got a glimpse of something the other clearly did not mean for him to see. It wasn’t a look of anger, or despair, or even frustration.
It was only exhaustion, resignation, and the slightest hint of pain.
This expression soon morphed into shock when Jackson turned back around.
“Do you...want to share it?”
~~
Mark liked being alone. He hadn’t always been alone, but after leaving that damned place behind, he’d fallen in love with the absolute peace that came with solitude.
Not that it’d been hard to leave, at least not once he finally figured out exactly what he was. As long as he could remember, he’d been living in that crappy, rundown orphanage filled with only grime, lost innocence, and misery. It housed too many and never had enough resources for them all, resulting in a miserable, cluttered environment that turned the kids on each other.
Ironically, he probably had that giant bully to thank for finally getting him out of there. To this day, Mark still had no idea how that crazy brute got his hands on a metal pipe, but when it had been swung at him, his body had finally decided that enough was enough and shifted for him.
Theoretically, all shifters had full control over shifting, but exceptions have been known to occur, especially when the fight or flight response was triggered. If a shifter was injured, scared, or extremely stressed, involuntary shifting was all too common.
Mark only remembered screwing his eyes shut and leaping backwards, waiting for the imminent pain.
And then somehow, he was airborne.
He’d gone on autopilot from there, following his screaming instincts to get out get out GET OUT. He didn’t have to time to ponder what he was or what he had become, the much more pressing issue of survival pushing everything out of his mind.
He busted out through the window, cutting himself all over with the broken glass, but none of the pain registered.
And then he was free. So utterly alone, but free. The sudden silence except for the whooshing of wind past his ears was so surreal, the silence no longer tainted by faint sniffling or stifled cries.
At that moment, he could only wonder how in the world had he survived so long without knowing the feeling of the wind beneath his wings.
While Mark knew he had only experienced the two extremes of the spectrum and therefore had no way of knowing anything otherwise, it hadn’t been hard to convince himself that solitude would be best for him.
It was roughly a year later that he’d stumbled upon that rabbit by chance, and also coincidence that the prey he’d been eying for a good ten minutes had also caught the interest of a shifter wolf. It would’ve been easy for Mark to swoop in first, but with his ankle already injured in a bad landing during a storm three days ago, he figured perhaps it would be easier to let the other do the the hard work for him.
Even if it was just a rabbit, the kicks those hind legs could land were no joke.
Getting into an extended confrontation...wasn’t exactly what Mark had planned. He didn’t know what exactly he’d been thinking, or when he thought he’d be able to get a clear shot to swoop down and steal away with the kill. He knew the wolf had been about to head back to that little village, where Mark stood no chance at all.
So when he saw that slight opening, he took it.
And he had immediately regretted it. Sinking his talons into the dead rabbit had been a piece of cake, and even lifting it up hadn’t put too much strain on his ankle.
But as soon as that damn wolf had snagged onto it and pulled down….
It had felt like his talons had been about to be detached from the rest of his leg, the joint suddenly flaring up with pain and it had taken all of Mark’s strength to stay in the air. When the wolf’s jaw had loosened around the rabbit slightly, he immediately took that chance to shoot himself backwards, landing roughly and only straining his ankle more.
He didn’t know what in the world had possessed him in that moment to stand his ground. Maybe it was out of spite, because what the hell why not. He was hungry, injured, and had nothing to lose. Why the hell not get his butt kicked, it'd been a while since he'd gotten a good fight anyways.
But that damn ankle of his had buckled as soon as he put his weight on it, and it was over in seconds.
All the fight had drained out of him at once. What was the point in resisting further? This world had always functioned under the law of survival of the fittest. Had Mark really expected to win, when all he was good at was running away?
When even then, he was running away from the fact that maybe, he didn't love the loneliness nearly as much as he tried to make himself believe. That perhaps that was why the reason why he had so sought out confrontation.
But Jackson had surprised him.
Jackson.
That was his name, a name that hadn't been far from Mark's mind at any given moment since that fateful day, even though it'd already been three years since.
Three years, and Jackson was still bringing him surprises, and quite literally too.