Alpha & Omega // Ateez // P.SH

- 22 -

«My beloved, 

I can hardly breathe thinking about how you're not here, and I'm going to have to leave. You're my oxygen, my everything. But I know you're alive, and that gives me strength. We'll be together again. I will never give up on finding you again.

We are going the same way as the members we had to leave. Same side. The agreement to meet twice a year is still on.

I love you!

Yeo.»

Jongho sat in the bed in the cabin crying. He had shifted out of his wolf for the first time in weeks, gone into the empty building, and found the note his mate had left him. The paper barely had any of his scent left, but the entire cabin was filled with his scent. They had been many wolves here, but Yeo's scent would always be easily recognizable to him. It meant safety, love, warmth, laughter.

Oh, how he missed Yeosang's laughter! Jongho couldn't hold back a sob. He closed his eyes, and couldn't stop the tears from falling. Please forgive me, Yeo, forgive me for being too impulsive. Too often he did what felt right at that moment, without considering the consequences. Like insisting on tracking Ellinor when she had been kidnapped. He knew where she was, but that didn't help much, did it?! He couldn't do anything alone, and the pack was far away. If he understood Yeo correctly, they had gone in the direction Sunwoo and Livv had gone. The exact opposite direction as to where Ellinor was.

When they parted from Sunwoo and Livv, they had all agreed that they would try to meet up every midsummer and new year, until they were back together again. The place would be Ellinors forest. It was less than a month till midsummer. If Jongho stayed in the area until then, one of them would come and he could find Yeo again.

A month. It felt hard not to go after Yeo immediately, but he might not find them in a month. They were quite far ahead of him, and he was still weaker than he used to be. If he spent his time well, he could be back in good shape by midsummer.

Staying in the cabin didn't feel right. All the scents reminded him of those who weren't there. At Hanahs he would be welcome.

Hanah:

The barn was empty when Hanah returned from town. It was getting dark and the wolf wasn't there. She felt disappointed. Of course, she knew he wouldn't stay long. Now that he was feeling better, he obviously wanted to go back into the wild, to his own kin, whoever they were.

She put some of what she had bought in the food storage, and the rest she brought into the house. She made herself a hot meal, and she made a large batch. She had promised the wolf food if he was here when evening came. She had to keep that promise if he would turn up. She didn't have much hope when darkness arrived and heavy rain fell from the skies. She filled the large bowl with soup again and put on her raincoat before she ran over the yard towards the barn. She made sure to make plenty of noise so she wouldn't startle him when she went in.

She didn't see any wolf inside, and she sighed. Then she saw something move in the corner of the room. The wolf got up and came out onto the floor. It sat down, and she tried to control her own shaky legs.

«Hi wolfie,» she said, trying to sound chipper. «There you are. Here's some supper. Please forgive me, I'm out of meat and it was too expensive... Anyway, here you go. I'll get you some fresh water too.»

By the time she returned with the water he had finished the food. Once again she asked permission to look at his paws, and she knew it wasn't a coincidence that he went to lay down on his blanket.

«You understand me far too well, wolfie,» she mumbled as she took out the ointment and carefully sat down next to him. «Maybe you've lived with humans before? You don't seem scared of me, and... for some reason I'm not that scared of you either. I have no idea why.» She put ointment on all four of his feet, one by one. They were looking a lot better, which made her happy. «I think today will be the last day of this,» she said. «But I'm happy to have a look again to make sure everything is okay. If you're around, I mean. I'm babbling, aren't I...»