Pure; omegaverse

CHAPTER EIGHT: HOSEOK

"Are we almost there yet?" A grumble comes from behind.
I tilt my head in aggravation to look at Taehyung who seems too engrossed in the map to pay any attention to the bitchy whines coming behind us.
"Are you sure you're an alpha? You sound like a fucking omega bitch." I mumble.
Both alphas choke at my words. "Hoseok, you shouldn't say things like that." Tae admonishes.
"That was too far." Joon mutters, irritated. "And it's a valid question. Taehyung said it should only take a few hours but we've been walking since morning and it's now late at night, that's more than a few hours!"
I roll my eyes and decide that we do need to rest up. I drop my bags and lean against a tree, gulping some water from our dwindling supply.
Sighing, Tae sits down on the ground and dumps out the last of our life support, going over what we have left. "We have a day and a half left of water and food only for tonight. We'll need to hunt again." He murmurs.
Frowning, I search through the thick forest. It's winter. Hunting is sparse this season. Everything is in hiding or dead—much like we'll be if we don't make it to the settlement.
"I'll go. I need to get some space." Joon mumbles, removing his beta uniform so it doesn't get dirty before stalking off out of sight.
I watch him go before speaking. "Tae...you should go back to the society. You have a chance. You could still be mated. Have a family. I don't want you throwing that all away over me."
He shakes his head. "I'm not going. You're all the family I have and need. You're my hyung. We're in this together." He says adamantly.
I want to argue but just decide to drop it. Taehyung is loyal to a fault and stubborn. There's no changing his mind once he's made it up. Besides, I'm selfish enough to enjoy the company. If I only had Namjoon, I'd have beat myself to death with a tree or drowned myself in a frozen creek by now.
      "How much farther is the river? We can get more water to last us."
      "About another hour or so if we hurry. I'm worried, though. You know the settlements move around a lot. I'm afraid by the time we get there they will be gone and we'll have to find another one. We won't make it much longer on these little supplies and the winter. We need actual shelter."
      I curse. I'd forgotten about them moving around. "They do have permanent settlements, though."
      "Yes but I don't think this one is. Usually permanent settlements are marked as so on the maps. This one isn't. The only other closest settlement is nearly a months journey from here." He stresses.
      Shit. We have to make it to this one before they relocate. Namjoon comes back soon enough with a large chunk of meat. "What's this?"
       He shrugs. "It's all I could find. Something else had already ravaged the best parts but at this time of season I was lucky to find this."
       I hate that he's right. It's getting too dangerous for us to be out here without proper shelter. "Well thanks anyway, I guess." I mumble.
Taehyung smiles as he rips off a chunk of meat and begins heating it over our sloppily made fire.
There's nothing really for us to say so we just eat in silence. Huddling in our thin clothing for warmth, we take turns keeping watch again.
I volunteer the first watch since Namjoon hunted and Tae looks exhausted. I climb up high into the nearest tree and observe the dark surroundings.
Far, far in the distance from this height, I can still see the twinkling lights of the sanctuary much farther away. A safe distance yet near enough to make out the large structure.
My mind strays back to the omega I saw and his large beta. Touching his arm and pulling him back inside. My lip curls in anger and I growl. No one should be touching him. No one. Purity such as that should be handled with care. Not jerked around and bullied.
Fuck, what's wrong with me? I don't care about that omega. Why can't I forget him? I doubt the poor thing can even think of anything beyond pleasing his alpha and having pups.
Scoffing, I imagine him prancing around like a fucking Prince, being catered on hand and foot. Spoiled. Omegas are overly spoiled. Having no real insight into the real world around them. The suffering and the fight everyone else much go through just to survive while they live in plastic glittery bubbles.
When the hell did I get so petty? Rolling my eyes, I force my gaze away from the stupid sanctuary and below my tree, scoping out for other alphas or betas. I can hear the river now. We aren't too far. That's good.
I can't sleep so I decide to keep watch all night and let the others rest. I sit up and stretch at the first light of dawn, yawning and shaking my numb limbs.
I begin my descent to the ground but pause when I hear soft laughter coming from the rushing river. Frowning, I try to see where the voices are coming from. They don't really sound like betas but...I don't know. Too far away. The wind carried their voices our direction.
I jump down and wake the others up. "We need to leave."
Namjoon is alert immediately while Taehyung just slumps down, his exhaustion still very evident. I really wish he hadn't of followed me out here. He deserves better. I feel like he's getting sick.
"What's wrong?" Joon demands, eyes searching the first frantically.
"I heard voices coming from the river. We're close."
"Betas or alphas?" He asks.
"I'm not sure. I couldn't tell." I admit.
He nods slowly. "Well, let's go take care of them before their numbers grow."
Grimly, we gather all our things and head towards the river, towards the soft voices. For some reason, the closer we get the harder my heart pounds. Something just doesn't seem right.