My Way ||| Ateez

25

Alright. That elk over there is perfect. It should feed the eight of us for the rest of the week. Hongjoong said, turning to glance at Yeosang. His beta huffed and trotted over to the other pack to try and relay the message.

Jongho still didn't want to merge the packs, which Hongjoong couldn't blame him for. He didn't look forward to the battle for head alpha that could come from it, but it did make hunting a challenge. Yunho was the biggest asset as he was the best at reading others.

Ok they are ready. Yeosang called out to him as he appeared from behind a tree. He wagged his tail in anticipation.

Hongjoong nodded to him and was just about to give the signal when a long howl came from the west. He stood up straight and looked in that direction. The howl wasn't familiar. Abort! Get back to the house!

He saw Mingi and Seonghwa appear next to him, looking worried, and Yeosang turned to go tell the others again. Hongjoong followed behind him, not wanting to let his mate out of his sight.

The howls grew louder. And there were more of them.

It's the Alpha pack. Mingi growled. He moved closer to Seonghwa.

Shit. Hongjoong came to a stop in front of the others. Jongho locked eyes with him, his pack standing behind him.

Cursing the fact they couldn't talk, Hongjoong shifted. The other alpha followed suit, so did Mingi.

"What is it?" Jongho asked.

"It's the Alpha Pack. They are here." Mingi said, wringing his hands.

"What should we do?" Hongjoong said, turning to the taller.

"I don't know... Without being able to communicate... I want to say we split up but what if we can't find each other again?" He glanced at Jongho, who bristled.

Wooyoung whimpered behind him and walked forward so that his head was under Jongho's hand. He was shaking.

"We are running out of time!" Hongjoong said, glaring at Jongho. "It's your choice!" He held out his arm.

Yunho nudged the back of Yunho's leg and let out a small growl. Jongho growled back at him, but then the howls sounded again, closer this time.

Jongho clapped his arm to Hongjoong's to make the pact, and all of them shivered as the pack link opened even more.

Hongjoong breathed a sigh of relief and then said, "How do we want to split up?"

"At least in pairs. But we need to stay in contact as best we can." Mingi said. He looked scared, and that didn't make Hongjoong feel very good, but he nodded.

Everyone shifted back into wolves again and the two groups of four split into their natural groups.

They ran.

And they could feel the alphas following them.

Four jumped out in front of them, splitting the back off into smaller groups.

Hongjoong found himself running with Jongho, San, and Yeosang. The two other alphas panicked at the rest of their pack was gone but they were being herded away from the others.

Mingi! Are you ok?

For now. We are being pushed somewhere.

So are we. Stay alert and protect them. Hongjoong said, trying to work out how they were going to get out of this. They should have expected an ambush, but it had been a couple weeks since Lance had approached them so they had grown lax in their watches.