Collision

Chapter 17

Winter. How was Jeongguk going to survive the winter? He had never been hunting before, other than a few mice that Taehyung had taught him to catch and digging up some roots with Jimin.

There would be no warmth from packmates, either. No way to hunt for food to sustain, and the only sources of water other than where his pack reined were closer to the human lines.

A shudder ran over him.

If he went too close, a human would shoot him down. He couldn't go too low, and if he went too close back up the mountain, his pack would hunt him down and kill him if they caught wind of his scent.

Or a bear would kill him first.

Jeongguk's throat tightened, a whimper strangling off. These last few days with Yoongi had been amazing. He had come to care for the human deeply, and the idea of no longer being welcomed broke off fragments of his already fragile heart.

But he knew that he couldn't dare to ask him to stay. He had no right to do so. Yoongi was a human, one who wanted to be alone before Jeongguk broke his peace.

Why would he allow an animal within his home, within his life?

Squeezing his eyes shut, he scoffed in the back of his throat. One thing he didn't like about being in human form was the tears. Wolves don't cry. They can't. If his father saw him now-

No, his father wasn't here. His father couldn't control him anymore.

His heart cracked, recalling the desperate calls from his best friends, the look of utter terror over their faces as they watched the scene unravel.

Goddesses, Jeongguk missed them. He craved them.

"When I get bigger, I am going to be a strong Alpha, like my daddy," Jeongguk crowed proudly, straightening his legs and puffing up his glossy puppy fur, streaked with white hairs of youth.

Taehyung giggled, his own fur streaked with patches of adult fur as his puppy fur shed to be replaced with thick, course brown fur of the richest earth's soil.

He looked slightly funny; gangly limbs a little too long, paws too big to the point he constantly tripped over himself. It didn't seem to bother him much.

"Why do you want to be an Alpha so bad?" Jimin wondered, lifting his head from where it was resting against his oversized paws.

Jimin was born in the same birth cycle as Taehyung, from a sweet female Omega and Beta, while Taehyung was born from an Alpha and Omega pair. They were around the same age, a few months difference, though a glance at them would make that seem impossible.

Taehyung's dark fur the color of soil compared to the overly fluffy russet and soft pale red coat of Jimin's- even with his puppy fur still scattered amongst the adult.

Jimin was tiny too, though he swore up and down that he was going to go through a growth spurt that would get him taller than even Taehyung, who despite his lankiness was taller than the three of them.

Not that Jeongguk would ever admit that.

Jeongguk glanced over, tail wagging happily. "So, I can help the pack. Even if I don't become head Alpha like one of my older littermates, I would get to hunt. Hunt and protect Omega's, be strong."

Jimin's tail gave a steady sway, ears alert on his head that expressed his happiness. "You would make a great Alpha. Head Alpha or not, I will always follow you." He paused, cocking his head so that his ear fell over his eye. "Even if you're just a cute little puppy now."