TWM | MW [✔]

01.

A solitary howl carried through the air, sending a shiver through Wonwoo. So much for slipping away unnoticed. He'd been walking for ages. He had to be nearing the edge of the wolves' territory. Once he crossed the threshold and left the pack behind, their power should be less. The amulet around his neck made him harder to track, but at least one wolf had taken up the pursuit.

Energy crackled around him. The boundary—he was close. His heart pounded in his chest, his feet throbbing with each careful step. Just a little further...

A growl echoed around him. He took off running, but it was too late. Something crashed into him from behind, knocking him flat. The amulet's spell cracked and splintered like glass, fading away. The wolf had him pinned to the forest floor, the weight heavy against his back. He dug his hands and feet into the earth, tried to draw on its power, and push himself up, but it was useless. Like trying to lift a boulder. He wasn't going anywhere, not until the wolf let him up.

His captor let out another warning growl, breath hot against Wonwoo's neck. Wonwoo didn't dare move. Hell, he didn't even breathe. One snap of the beast's jaws and he'd be a dead mage. But they wanted him alive, right? Why go to the trouble of stealing him from Maken Pack if he wasn't important? Important people got to live, even if they did try to run when given the chance.

In the distance, he heard more wolves moving in their direction, drawn by his pursuer's calls. The weight of the wolf shifted suddenly. The sharp claws digging into his shoulders became hands, and then he was being straddled by a man.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?"

The weight on his back lifted, but before he could try to push to his feet, hands clamped onto his upper arms and dragged him up.

Others arrived, wolves and men alike, until the clearing was alive with people. The sea of bodies parted as a tall, broad-shouldered man swept through the trees. The pack's alpha, Namjoon. The fury on his face sent a shiver through Wonwoo.

"Mingyu. What happened?"

The wolf holding Wonwoo answered. "Caught him running for the boundary."

The alpha's eyes swept over him, and Wonwoo had to fight the urge to drop his gaze.

"Seungcheol."

Another wolf approached, his arms crossed. He dipped his head toward Namjoon. "Alpha."

"He was under guard." It wasn't a question. The steely tone in Namjoon's voice would have made a lesser man flinch. Wonwoo was impressed that Seungcheol barely reacted.

"A wolf outside his room, two guarding the building. They noticed nothing."

"Anyone else witnessed our mage's flight?"

A heavy silence filled the clearing, broken only by the fluttering of leaves in the breeze.

"No one?" Namjoon's eyes lit on Wonwoo again and then looked past him to the wolf holding him. "Except Mingyu. Curious."

Mingyu spoke again, terse and matter-of-fact. "There was some kind of magic. A spell. It broke when I grabbed him."

Wonwoo tensed, wishing the spell had held for a few minutes longer. Not that it would have done him much good, since Mingyu had seen right through it.

"You saw him when no one else did. When no one else could," Namjoon said.

"I'm the watcher. Nothing happens on the boundary that I don't see."

"Almost nothing," someone muttered.

Mingyu's grip tightened hard enough to bruise. Wonwoo swallowed a murmur of pain, wondering what the watcher had missed.