WHELVE | TK

ELEVEN

this chapter is a flashback from Jeongguk's days in the training camps

This is short so sorry

***

Jeongguk looked up, his breathing heavy as he finally stopped his paws into the large patch of mud under him. He felt his friends doing the same, all of them just as tired, some of them on the verge of fainting due to exhaustion and hunger.

There, in front of them, were the gates of the northern training camps, a place desired by many and just as dreaded by others.

Gulping, Jeongguk straightened his back, taking the position of the leader, then stepped ahead, until they all found themselves in the center of attention, so many pairs of eyes watching their every move. It was dawn but there were already so many people outside, training in the cold air or patrolling. He looked around, amazed, then finally focused his red eyes on the man walking towards them.

He was an alpha, a powerful one at that.

"You must be from the Jeon pack." He said, dimples appearing on his cheeks when he smiled towards Jeongguk. "And you must be Jeongguk, the little purebred."

Nodding, the obviously younger one bowed his head while still in his wolf form, a sign of respect for the other.

"I'll guide you towards a place where you can clean and change into fresh clothes and then, after you'll have some food, you'll meet the leader."

***

They were all patiently waiting around a crackling fire for the leader to come meet them when the same man walked towards them all with another shapeshifter trailing behind him, his eyes glowing with a color Jeongguk's never seen before. They both sat down and, surprisingly, the man with glowing, icy, eyes, stared them all down, his irises stopping on Jeongguk at the end.

"I'm Seokjin, the leader of the training grounds." He said, his voice smooth, softer than anyone else's, almost as calming as Taehyung's voice was for Jeongguk.

That fact and the aura around that man made Jeongguk realize he was not a normal shapeshifter.

"You're not an alpha." Jeongguk had said at that time, immediately punching himself in his mind for being so disrespectful.

Despite his rudeness, the man stayed calm, only smiling softly before his irises focused on Jeongguk again. They never lost their glow.

"I am not. You have good eyes, Jeon Jeongguk. Do you know what I am?"

Jeongguk did not and he was sure that none of his friends knew. He shook his head, watching as the smile on Seokjin face softened, the other nodding slowly.

"I am a delta. My kind is rare so it's very less likely that you'll meet another one during your lifetimes."

They all were amazed after hearing that. Firstly, because Jeongguk himself's never heard of such thing and secondly because the man in front of them hasn't opened his lips while saying those words. He was communicating through a link that's never been created and Jeongguk didn't know how he was able to do that, with all of them.

"It's a delta's ability to be able to communicate and link every shapeshifter they meet."

His words echoed again, this time for real. Jeongguk's eyes met the other's who, surprisingly, was already eyeing him curiously with his brows furrowed.

"Jeongguk, I'm looking forward to your evolution."

At that time, Jeongguk had not known the reason behind those words. He had not known that the delta had felt the powerful, yet stagnant, presence hovering inside him.

He hadn't known that the spirit inside him was still asleep at that time and that, at one point, soon enough, he was going to wake up and change his whole life.

For the worse.

***

Jeongguk spent one whole year in the training camps without knowing what actually laid inside him.

Their training methods were harsh, harsher than the ones they were all used to. They were forced to fight each other until one of them either went unconscious or withdrew but, apart from their fighting training, they were also taught control.

Each of them was taken in by an older alpha and angered until the point they lost control. That happened every day for a year and, by the time those long months passed, most of them, as newbies, had already mastered control and were at peace with their wolf spirits.

Most of them, except one.

Jeongguk, even after one whole year, was still being laughed at by other people in the training camps. His spirit wolf, who used to be calm back in the days spent in his pack, was starting to become harsher and angrier, not even once accepting to be looked down onto by anyone else. He didn't understand why that change was happening or why his blood started to boil every time he began his control training with, not surprising at all, the most powerful alpha there, Namjoon.

He did not understand then but, a few days after a whole year had passed, he was called in by Seokjin through the telepathy link. He met eyes then, not only with the delta and Namjoon, but with another man, a man whose eyes looked familiar, yet so distant.

"Jeongguk, we've called you here to talk about your wolf. I guess you've noticed as well that it's started to become reckless and harsher to control than before." Seokjin stopped for a few seconds, his eyes never once leaving Jeongguk's. Somehow, his presence did not anger the spirit wolf inside of him but Jeongguk could still feel his blood starting to boil due to the other two wolves inside the room. "Do you know why such things are happening?"

Jeongguk huffed. "Because I'm weak and I can't control it?"

Shaking his head, Seokjin got up from his seat, then motioned for Jeongguk to follow. He did, his fingers shaking as he tried to stop himself from becoming even angrier than he already was.

"Do you know the legend of The Primeval?" He asked as he took out a book from a shelf, turning around to look at Jeongguk as he shook his head before opening it. "Shapeshifters weren't always a thing, Jeongguk. Just like humans, we appeared because of something or, more like someone. We call him The Primeval, the first human who merged with a spirit wolf."

"And what does that have to do with my lack of self control?" Jeongguk asked, impatient and almost shivering.

"It has to do with your lack of self control because," Seokjin stopped at that, finally opening the book to a page that had a few illustrations on it. Jeongguk leaned in closer and frowned as he looked at the images. "The Primeval's spirit wolf is what keeps our kind going, Jeongguk. He's the one that maintains the balance between the spirit wolves inside us and our human nature."

Jeongguk could already picture the other's following words but he hoped that he was wrong, he hoped that Seokjin wasn't going to voice out his thoughts and destroy his life forever.

However, when the other turned around and his eyes met Jeongguk, he knew he was wrong.

"The Primeval gets reincarnated in the most powerful human host it can find and, this time, it has chosen you, Jeongguk. You're soon to awaken as its host so we shall be preparing you for that moment. Starting then, you have to realize that your life will change and that your purpose will only be devoted to being its host and keeping the balance intact."

And so, with those words, the whole world collapsed under Jeongguk's feet and his whole life changed.