Hope & Perseverance | ym

III

"Jimin~" After weeks of sleep, only being woken up to have his wound redressed and to drink the liquid the other alpha provided for him, this was the first thing out of Yoongi's mouth once he was able to shift and speak.

"Who's Jimin?" One of the pups asked, Beomgyu, if Yoongi recalled correctly from the brief moments that he heard the small pack calling each other by name.

"My mate~" Yoongi panted out as he sat up, the small act winding him as he wasn't used to doing much more than lying down.

The five pups stared at Yoongi in confusion, the youngest one leaning towards the tallest. "But he doesn't have a mark?" He whispered, the taller shrugging.

Yoongi shook his head. "We didn't get the chance to mark each other." The alpha then shared his story with the small pack, starting with the beginning of his own pack when he and Namjoon had taken Seokjin, to how Jimin appeared in his life, and ending with the big fight. "The last thing I remember is that sorry excuse for an alpha's teeth around my neck. I don't even know how my pack's doing, if the pups made it out okay, if Namjoon and Hoseok are alive, if they were able to save our omegas."

The five pups in the den started shifting uncomfortably as the scent of Yoongi's distress swelled in the small area, and the alpha that had been taking care of Yoongi moved closer to them to provide his own comforting pheromones. "You said this pack came from the north east?" Hyun, as Yoongi remembered the alpha's name, asked and Yoongi nodded slightly. "Then I probably know who you're talking about." Yoongi looked up in surprise. "A couple of months ago, our old pack got word of a ruthless group of alphas that were going through and pillaging various territories they came across as they searched for something that had been taken from them. We tried to prepare for them as best we could, but our efforts were futile as they were much stronger than us." He glanced around at the five pups huddling by him, affection shining in his eyes. "I managed to make it out with these five, and we've been getting by since." Yoongi looked at the pups in pity, they were even younger than Jungkook and Taehyung, and definitely shouldn't have had to witness the horrors of Hyunjin and his pack at such a young age. "We'll help you~" Hyun finally said after the bout of silence. "Once your strength is back, will go with you to find out what happened to your pack and get your omegas back."

"Thank you~" The alpha's eyes showed with sincerity at Hyun's offer. "And when...if we find Namjoon, he will reward you for your aide. Whether it be protection, shelter, a place in our pack. Your efforts won't go ignored." Hyun nodded his thanks before insisting that Yoongi lay back down and get some more rest.

~*~

With the rainstorm that had passed a couple of weeks earlier, it became more difficult for Hoseok and Namjoon to follow the pups' scents. Hoseok kept his nose low to the ground in the hopes of finding a trail along with their scent, while Namjoon sniffed everything they passed, yipping at Hoseok anytime he caught a whiff of Jungkook or Taehyung so they could continue in the right direction.

The sun was beginning to set one day and the two were getting ready to find shelter for the night when the pungent odor of old blood attacked their senses, coming from the exact direction they had been following the pups' scents in. The two alphas ran forward, fearing the worst, until they came across the body of an unknown alpha. They both shifted, breathing in relief now that they knew the blood didn't belong to either of the pups. "They were definitely here though." Hoseok panted as Namjoon scooped Soyoung out of her basket.

"How do you know?" Namjoon asked. "I can't smell either of them over the blood."

Hoseok pointed to the makeshift shelter just a few feet away from them. "That looks exactly like the shelters I used to make when it was just the three of us to shelter us from rain." He walked over to the shelter, Namjoon following while gently rocking the pup that was beginning to fuss. "It smells like an omega in heat in here!" Hoseok exclaimed, plugging his nose slightly from the strength of the scent.

"One of them presented." Namjoon commented in realization as Hoseok went back over to the dead body to sniff around it.

"I can smell a little bit of Jungkook on him." Hoseok announced. "My guess is Taehyung presented, this guy tried to get to him, and Jungkook fought back." He inspected the wolf's torn out throat. "And won. I can't even imagine how Jungkook is feeling right now, he was always the most sensitive one."

Namjoon sighed, holding Soyoung close to his chest. "So instead of trying to find two pups, we now have to find a freshly presented omega and a pup on the verge of a mental breakdown."

~*~

"Can you please just look at me?!" Taehyung and Jungkook had spent the last couple of weeks traveling in silence, the pup ignoring all of Taehyung's attempts at playing or talking. The two were currently sitting next to a fire Jungkook had started to keep them warm as the nights were beginning to get colder, and Taehyung had decided he'd had enough of the silence. "We're all alone out here, Kookie! We just lost our pack; I don't want to lose my best friend too!" Jungkook continued to stare down at his lap, not saying a word. "Jungkook, I'm scared! Please say something!"

Jungkook took a shaky breath, finally saying his first words to Taehyung in weeks. "How can you still think of me as your best friend? I'm disgusting~"

The omega's eyebrows furrowed, and he crawled closer to the pup. "Kookie, what are you talking about?"

Jungkook's body had begun shaking at that point and he lifted his head up just enough that Taehyung could see the tears glistening in his eyes. "I killed someone, Tae. How can you even stand to be near me right now? I'm no better than Jimin and Seokjin's old pack or the pack that killed our parents."

"You're nothing like them, Kookie." Taehyung insisted, sitting right next to the pup, who tried to flinch away. The omega wrapped his arms around him before he could. "Namjoon, Hoseok, and Yoongi have killed people before too. Do you think they're just like those packs?" Jungkook shook his head, giving Taehyung a look as if asking how he could ever think that. "Exactly! Those packs kill people for power, to assert dominance, sometimes just for fun. Our alphas killed to protect us, and that's exactly what you did! You were protecting me! You're just like our alphas." Jungkook avoided the omega's gaze, obviously not believing him. "I've known you literally your entire life, Kookie. You wouldn't have killed that alpha if you didn't feel like you absolutely had to."

After a moment, Jungkook finally curled into Taehyung's warmth, allowing the omega to scent him like they used to when they were just tiny pups mimicking the older wolfs around them. "So, you don't hate me?"

Taehyung nuzzled into Jungkook's neck. "I could never hate you, Kookie~"