Brethren

2

It was two days until the wolf woke up. Hyukjae was cleaning the wound when it happened, and the wolf howled in pain. He tried to shift, to get up, to run away, but Hyukjae held him down.

"Hey, Hey, you're alright! We're not going to hurt you, I'm helping- Leeteuk!"

The wolf snapped at him and Hyukjae darted back, trying to dodge the snarling, but limping wolf.

"Hey, what is this- oh my god!" Leeteuk said, running into the hut "He's awake! How's his leg?"

"It was fine- he just- got mad!" Hyukjae said, dodging the wolf's paw.

Leeteuk knelt down next to the wolf, hand on its scruff but not gripping yet "Hey, Hey, you'll be alright. We're not trying to hurt you, see? I'm Leeteuk and this is Hyukjae, we were trying to heal you on our pack's land since we found you passed out.

The wolf calmed down, and eventually had enough energy to switch to a human, bandages meant to fit a wolf's leg now slipping down to his ankle. Leeteuk slowly untied them, inspecting the would. "You're healing well. What's your name?"

"I'm Kyuhyun. Where am I?"

"We're about five miles out from the 12th settlement. How did you get here?" Leeteuk asked, starting to re-dress Kyuhyun's leg carefully.

"I've just been wandering for- close to a year now. I got kicked out of my old pack," Kyuhyun explained with a shrug

"What? How?" Leeteuk asked. His hands were deft as he tied the bandages, he'd clearly done this a lot.

"I got too old to stay there, so I started wandering, but I never found another pack. Guess my luck just sucks, huh?"

"If you couldn't find one for a year? Definitely some bad luck" Hyukjae said from the corner. He had alerted more people with his shout, and Heechul had walked over.

"Ah, Kyuhyun, this is Heechul. He's the eldest alpha here." Leeteuk said, and watched Heechul's eyes as they looked Kyuhyun up and down. He was checking for competition. Despite being mated to Leeteuk for years now, he was always wary with new alphas. He'd been the same with Siwon.

Kyuhyun bowed his head in submission. He'd do his best to please the apparent leader, especially since he'd offered him healthcare for what seemed like days.

"Thank you for letting me stay here, and for looking after me. I'll repay it however I can." Kyuhyun said as formally as he could muster for a man who was tired as Hell and had probably left his clothes somewhere in shreds wherever he last transformed. It was cold in the hut, and also quite embarrassing.

Heechul looked Kyuhyun up and down again "You can stay here until you're healed. But you'll have to leave after. We don't have room for another alpha here."

Kyuhyun bit his lip and nodded. Well, there went his hopes of a place to stay.

—

"Donghae, look!" Ryeowook said, yanking on the elder's arm "The other wolf is awake! And shifted!"

Donghae turned from where he was talking to Kangin, a little annoyed that his conversation had been interrupted, but looked nonetheless.

Kyuhyun, now dressed in borrowed clothes, was just walking out of the hut, leg now properly bandaged. He had a slight limp, and his leg was dragging behind him slightly.

"Woah..." Ryeowook said quietly as if he was speaking to himself.

"What?" Kangin asked, looking curiously down at Ryeowook.

"He's really pretty..." Ryeowook said quietly, and he felt Kangin's hand grab his shoulder.

"He's not one of us, Ryeowook. You know Heechul's going to make him leave, he told us all yesterday." Kangin said, voice low so Kyuhyun didn't hear.

"I know..." Ryeowook said sadly. Kangin's grip weakened, he didn't want to scare the poor boy. He was still trying to vie for his affections after all. He needed to seem powerful yet approachable for him.

Donghae just shrugged "I don't think he's that pretty. His face looks weird." He made no attempt to hide this comment, but it didn't seem like Kyuhyun heard him.

From the corner of his eye, Ryeowook saw Siwon looking over at them all, but looked away when Ryeowook caught his eye.  Clearly, he didn't want them to know they were being watched, but it was a pretty pathetic attempt at not getting caught. 

"Come on, Ryeowook, let's go back," Kangin said, the hand on his shoulder leading him away from the group of people curiously staring at Kyuhyun.

—

"You know, you really shouldn't hang around them so much." Siwon carded his hands through Donghae's hair, looking down at the omega lying at his side, head resting on the elder's chest. Donghae looked up at Siwon, eyes wide and confused.

"What do you mean? I live with Ryeowook, I can't exactly stop talking to him" Donghae said with a laugh. He was so innocent that it was almost hard to believe at times. He had always been Leeteuk's baby, and as such had been protected from nearly anything that could ever hurt him, or "corrupt him." Siwon just found this cute, innocent side of Donghae adorable. However, it meant that oftentimes, he didn't understand that what he was doing could be sexual, or romantic, and that could irk him too.

"No, I mean what you were doing with Kangin. And the other Alphas. You hang around them too much, you let them get too close to you." Siwon said, wrapping an arm around Donghae's waist protectively, but also possessively.

"They're still my friends, I can't just not talk to them!" Donghae pouted "Kangin is my friend, and so are the other alphas..."

"I know that, but you should be spending the most time around me, you understand? I want you to stay here with me, where I can protect you and keep you safe." Siwon said, running his hands up and down Donghae's back.

"If you'd just mate me everything would be over and done with," Donghae said, frowning slightly. They'd been "betrothed," for lack of a better word, for nearly six months now and Donghae was getting a little impatient. He suffered through watching all his friends fight over him, and now it seemed like nothing was going to come of it at all. He felt a little upset by it, it seemed like Siwon didn't want to mate him at all. That hurt his self-confidence, that his betrothed didn't want to touch him any more intimately than cuddles.

"You know I want to wait until we're properly married, then it'll be more special. On our wedding night, you and me, alone together-"

Donghae had heard this a hundred times. He might be innocent, but hearing this could genuinely put him to sleep.

Once Siwon finished his little speech, he looked down at Donghae snoring on his chest. Donghae would never understand why he wanted to wait, but he'd get it soon enough.