Hope & Perseverance | ym

II

Jungkook perked his head up as he heard a rustling sound. He tried to ignore the pained groans coming from behind him as he focused on listening for the sound again. He heard rustling again, this time accompanied by twigs snapping, so he climbed onto his feet, taking on a protective stance as he glared in the direction the sounds were coming from.

Eventually, a large alpha wolf appeared, growling at Jungkook in an attempt to make the pup submit. Every fiber in Jungkook's being was telling him to lower his head, step out of the way and let the alpha by, but he forced his instincts down and bared his teeth threateningly. The alpha then shifted to human form, thinking that if he couldn't sway the pup with his growls, he could at least talk some sense into him.

"You know it's wrong to keep an alpha away from a bitch in heat." Jungkook growled at the alpha's words, not appreciating the way he was talking about Taehyung. "It's a natural process, and it's my right to take that omega if I want. Now step aside~" The alpha moved to walk past Jungkook, but jumped back when the pup snapped at him, nearly taking his hand off. "Pups these days know nothing about respect." The alpha muttered, staring Jungkook down, but he wasn't budging. "You asked for it~" The alpha shifted back into wolf form, lunging towards Jungkook who met him halfway.

~*~

Hoseok tied the last knot in the makeshift basket he had offered to make so it would be easier to carry Soyoung around as they traveled. After nearly a week of resting, the two alphas had decided they were healed enough that they could move without straining themselves too much. "You ready?" He asked Namjoon, who was gazing softly down at the sleeping pup in his arms.

Namjoon looked up at Hoseok and nodded, looking down at Soyoung one more time. "Yeah, let's go get our pack back." Namjoon carefully settled Soyoung into her basket, making sure she was swaddled comfortably in the small fur blanket.

"We're heading down the river?" Hoseok asked Namjoon one more time just to be sure.

"Yeah, keep going in the direction the pups were going in and see if we can pick up their scent further down. Then we'll circle back north towards where the other pack came from." Namjoon confirmed before shifting, Hoseok following suit. Namjoon gently picked up the basket in his mouth before heading towards the river, moving quickly enough that they could cover an adequate amount of distance, but slowly enough to not jostle the snoozing pup.

~*~

Jimin was in the middle of his new game counting the number of cracks in the stone walls when the door burst open, Hyunjin heading straight for Seokjin, who was still in the same position he had been in for over a week. "Get up~" Hyunjin demanded, earning no response from the omega. "I said get up!" Seokjin twitched a bit at Hyunjin's use of an alpha voice, but otherwise gave no acknowledgement. Hyunjin responded by harshly kicking Seokjin in the stomach.

"Leave him alone!" Jimin screamed when the alpha gripped onto the omega's hair to force him into a sitting position. "You're hurting him!"

Hyunjin finally let go of Seokjin, the omega slumping back towards the floor, not even having to strength to sit up. "Fucking useless~" Hyunjin grumbled, turning towards the guards who were standing just outside the door. "He's not moving. Go announce that the inspections will take place here in the cell."

"You can't be serious about this exposé!" Jimin exclaimed. "He already has a mate!"

Hyunjin gripped Seokjin by the hair again, tilting his head to expose the side of his neck. "He doesn't look claimed to me." Hyunjin threw Seokjin back down, and Jimin couldn't help but look at the other omega's lifeless eyes, silently begging for him to show any signs of emotion or thoughts. Anything. "But he will be soon considering the number of alphas waiting to get a look at him. The first time he's been seen in years after previously being thought to be dead? His exposé will be the event of the century."

Jimin glared at Hyunjin. "Fuck you~"

Hyunjin chuckled, walking over to Jimin, who pressed himself further against the wall in an attempt to get away from the alpha, and crouched down in front of him. "Aww, don't worry, you'll have the pleasure of doing that soon enough." Jimin spit at the alpha's face, and Hyunjin's hand shot up to grip his face, fingers and thumb digging painfully into the omega's cheeks. "Looks like someone still hasn't learned his lesson." Jimin continued to glare at Hyunjin as the alpha leaned in closer. "You're lucky you're with pup, otherwise you'd be getting a pretty severe punishment right now." Hyunjin pushed Jimin's head back, a burst of pain shooting through the omega's skull from the impact of hitting the wall behind him. "Be expecting quite a few alpha visitors soon. They're all dying to see Seokjin."

~*~

Taehyung opened his eyes and realized that for the first time in a week, he was shivering as opposed to burning. He slowly sat up, wincing at the ache in his bones, and sniffed around. The smell of rain filled his nostrils, and he became slightly worried when he couldn't catch even a hint of Jungkook's pup scent. "Kookie?" Taehyung called out, moving to exit the shelter that he vaguely remembered Jungkook hastily putting together.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Jungkook sitting just a few feet away from the shelter but concern quickly overtook him again when he looked at the pup shivering in the rainfall. "You know, you could have come inside with me. At least you would have been warmer." Jungkook didn't even look over his shoulder at Taehyung, let alone respond to the now omega. "Jungkook?" Taehyung asked in worry, stepping forward on shaky legs to see what was wrong with the pup.

He stopped short when he saw the body of a wolf on the ground in front of Jungkook, its throat ripped out with a puddle of not so fresh blood pooling underneath it. His eyes moved from the body to Jungkook, and he finally noticed the blood gradually being washed away from Jungkook's face and chest, along with a few healing bite marks and gashes. His gaze went back to Jungkook's face when the pup start talking. "He-he w-wanted you. He-he w-was going-he was going to-to t-take adva-advantage of you." Jungkook's body started trembling harder, his head shaking. "I c-couldn't l-let-I couldn't-I-" Taehyung kneeled down next to him and pulled him into his arms just as Jungkook burst into tears. He buried his face in Taehyung's chest as the omega nuzzled into his hair, shushing him and whispering that it was okay. They were going to be okay.