Silver Lining

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It was only twenty minutes. Twenty minutes before they were all stopping at the creek that ran through the Skz territory. They had barely traveled three miles outside of the pack house before young Innie began to whimper. The omega had glanced over at the raven-colored wolf that was running at his side, growling in dismay (this was the most activity he's gotten in months! He'll be damned if some pup was going to put a stop to it because his paws hurt!) but the youngest just flattened his ears and whimpered louder.

Felix was half tempted to just keep moving forward like nothing was amiss, to help toughen up the newly turned pup by teaching him to power through his problems, but that would be a break of protocol and the last thing the silvernette wanted was to be scolded by the alpha.

So the moondust-furred canine had thrown his head back and released a short deep howl, signaling the others and listening for the alpha's reply. Chan wasn't far behind them, only a few yards, so it didn't take long for a higher-pitched response; Seungmin and Minho yipped their acknowledgement and then the whole pack steered course.

The ranks had begun to bunch as they neared clearing, pace slowing to an easy trot as Jeongin bumped Felix's shoulder with pouting eyes.

But the omega had ignored him, puffing out an irritated breath of air and pointedly laid down as far away from him as possible.

He was away from everyone, in fact; they had their side of the creek and Felix had his. It was more of a subconscious act to isolate himself, years and years of not being wanted ingraining such a habit, but no one bothered to join him either.

Jeongin flopped on the ground and immediately dropped his transformation, panting and stretching his limbs into the shallow licks of the creek water (the omega's nose wrinkled at the thought of how cold the water probably was right now; was he asking for hypothermia?).

"I'm- I'm sorry," the youngest says between heavy breaths and a lulling tongue, "My hands and feet aren't used to the- the terrain yet; and- and- gosh- does it always feel like your body is on- on fire?"

The silvernette huffs, rolling his crystal blue eyes: Jeongin's lack of experience as a wolf was honestly sad. Has he worn shoes his whole life? Has he never done any sort of heavy lifting to build up calluses? Why does he have no endurance or practice maintaining a canine's heart rate vs. a human's?

Changbin hums, nudging the maknea's head with a wet snout in reassurance.

The sight makes Felix internally frown. ("You think you'll really be able to contribute something useful to the outing? No offense but you were raised as a human and lived among them for most of your life; I doubt you know the first thing about hunting, not even including hunting as a wolf pack." How dare the older doubt him, accuse him of being a burden when it is his own pack member that's holding them back now. Who cares if the omega lived in a human village, at least he knows how to be a wolf!).

Hyunjin and Seungmin yip sweetly, jumping over the youngest with wagging tails before chasing each other through the clearing. Jisung lays next to him, tail covering the other's backside as he licks Jeongin's shoulder. Minho surveys the area a few times before quietly watching the dragonflies. Chan's the last to reach the creek: taking a few sips, checking on the others, and then- coming to Felix?

The big gray and white wolf sits in front of the omega, head cocked to the side as he peers at him with curious brown eyes.

Is the silvernette being questioned? Probably because he did something wrong, huh? Did Jeongin complain about him? Is he about to be lectured and sent back to the pack house for the day? He hates this; he wants to be free again, he wants to explore without these stupid rules-