Safe With You | Yoonmin

Chapter 4: Wounded

| Yoongi |

WITH EVERY STEP THAT MIN YOONGI TOOK, it became more and more difficult to stay conscious. He leaned heavily on a makeshift walking stick as he struggled onward through the deep snow, the blood from his wounds leaving a faint crimson trail behind him.

Not for the first time, his foot caught on something concealed by the snow and he stumbled, barely catching himself. He groaned as the action caused white hot pain to flare through his leg and reflex tears blurred his vision.

Yoongi's entire right leg was a bloody mass of cuts and fang marks. A parting gift from the rogue wolf that had chased him from the ruins of his village almost three days ago. Then there was the issue of the arrow wound to his left shoulder.

The attack on the Min pack had come in the dead of night, with no warning. A horde of rogues had streamed into their village, some in human form wielding weapons, others in wolf form. They had set fire to the homes and barns, killing everyone and everything they came across.

It had been a massacre, plain and simple. Yoongi and the other alphas had fought back for all they were worth, trying in vain to protect the pups and the elderly. But they soon realized they were outnumbered.

The Min pack was small to begin with, numbering perhaps two hundred wolves, women and children included. They had lost too many in the initial surprise attack and countless rogue wolves continued to stream in from the surrounding fields.

Gradually, it became clear that the Min's were fighting a losing battle. Amidst the chaos and bloodshed, the pack Beta had sought out Yoongi and ordered him to run.

The trade convoy to the Black Mountain pack had left four days before the attack -- four wagons and ten wolves. Yoongi's mission was to find the convoy and warn them before they could return. If he could not find them, he was to continue on to the Black Mountain pack, to tell them what had transpired.

Yoongi had flat out refused until the Beta attacked him, landing a harsh blow to his jaw and roaring angrily. Realizing that he was not being given a choice, Yoongi made a run for it, sword in hand.

Perhaps the rogues saw him run, or perhaps it was just a stray arrow that slammed into the back of Yoongi's shoulder, knocking him to the ground.

He staggered back to his feet, running out into the fields only to be brought down again as fangs and claws dug into his leg. A rogue in wolf form had followed him out into the darkness. After a brief and desperate struggle, Yoongi succeeded in driving his sword through the wolf's throat.

Later that night, when the adrenaline from his narrow escape had faded, Yoongi was forced to remove the arrow shaft on his own.

The arrow had pierced all the way through his left shoulder, but just barely. Only about half of the arrowhead was visible just below his collar bone. He tried in vain to grip the sharp point but the slippery blood and his shaking hands made it impossible.

In desperation, Yoongi had wedged the shaft of the arrow between two boulders, turning sharply until he heard the sharp crack of the fletched end breaking off. The agony of it had dropped him to his knees, heaving and retching as wave after wave of pain and nausea rolled through him.

After vomiting up the entire contents of his stomach, Yoongi had gritted teeth and pushed his back into the boulder, using it to drive the arrow shaft further through his shoulder until he could grip the arrowhead with both hands and tear it out.

It was then that the events of the last few hours had caught up to Yoongi and a broken sob escaped him.

He felt the howls of his wolf as it grieved for their lost pack. Images of the dead and dying came unbidden to the forefront of his mind. Warriors, mothers, pups. No one had been spared.