𝐀𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐫 || 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐖𝐨𝐧

Chapter 25

Just when he’d almost given up hope, Mingyu caught a trace of Wonwoo’s scent on the wind. It was enough to give him a direction, which was far preferable to stumbling around blind. The snow was falling too thickly to see much, and he couldn’t find any of Wonwoo’s tracks. They were probably being covered as fast as they were being made. His hope began to fade again when he caught no more tantalizing hints of Wonwoo on the breeze. Maybe he’d gone the wrong way, missed him somehow. Just as he turned, ready to retrace his steps, a rasping yowl carried through the air. He spun around, trying to determine where the noise had come from. He was so distracted that he almost forgot to answer before he lifted his head to roar into the night’s sky.

Moving quickly, hoping he was going the right way, he kept his senses wide open for any hint of Wonwoo. There, again. Another yowl, louder this time. Wonwoo was close. He raced through the trees toward the sound, coming to a halt when he found the leopard stumbling along. Wonwoo was beyond exhaustion. They needed shelter, and they needed it now.

The only option was a cabin he’d spotted a mile back, closed up and abandoned. It would have to do. Wonwoo wouldn’t last much longer out there.

He cajoled, pushed, and hounded the exhausted omega to keep moving, hating every second of it. And when Wonwoo couldn’t go any farther, Mingyu took the only option left open to him. He shifted back to human form and carried him. It was a race against time to reach the cabin, but there it was right ahead of them. He forced the door open, closing it securely behind them, and set Wonwoo down on a rug on the floor. The omega didn’t stir; movement was beyond him. He was so very cold. Mingyu needed to warm him up or all this would be for nothing.

A cursory look around told him it was a hunting lodge, closed up until the next season. But the owner kept it clean and well-stocked. There were firelighters and a supply of kindling and wood. There was even a bag of coal there, too.

Mingyu wasted no time getting a fire going. He laid Wonwoo as close to the open hearth as he dared. Conscious that his own naked run through the snow hadn’t done him any favors, he dried himself off and donned some clothes he found packed away. Whoever’s cabin this was, he’d make reparations to them when all was said and done. Right now, their priority was survival.

He grabbed some towels and blankets and returned to crouch next to Wonwoo. The omega’s fur was damp right through, which wasn’t helping his body temperature. Mingyu laid a blanket on the floor and moved Wonwoo onto it, giving him a soft buffer from the well-worn rug. Then he took a towel and started briskly rubbing each of his paws in turn.

The sooner he got Wonwoo dry, the sooner he’d start to warm up. He wasn’t as gentle as he could be, and he knew Wonwoo’s skin would be sensitive thanks to the prolonged stint in the cold, but what use was being gentle if he was too slow and frostbite set in?

Once all four legs and Wonwoo’s tail were done, he started in on his flank, back, and chest. Wonwoo was breathing heavily but steadily. Mingyu laid his head on the leopard’s chest and listened. There was a slight crackle there. He’d have to keep an eye on that. When he had Wonwoo mostly dry, he wrapped him in another few blankets and curled up against him. He pulled out his phone again, staring at the infuriating screen that kept telling him the same useless thing—no signal. He couldn’t make a call, send a text, or let anyone know where they were. Which meant rescue wouldn’t be coming, not anytime soon. Sighing, his exhaustion finally catching up with him, he added more fuel to the fire and settled back down with Wonwoo, sharing body heat. Wonwoo was safe, and that was the main thing.

He woke to find Wonwoo human once more and huddled against his chest.

“Hey.”

The omega lifted his head and peered blearily up at him.