Destined {𝕄𝕀ℕ𝕊𝕌ℕ𝔾}

Chapter Sixty-One

PRESENT DAY

Minho's knees were curled up to his chest, his cheeks sticky with dried tears. Felix was only getting worse, and moving him too much had proven to be... unsafe. Nobody knew what to do anymore – Seungmin was too tired to teleport anyone anywhere, now.

They spoke in hushed voices so he couldn't hear – he didn't know what there was to hide at this point, but he was glad for it because even without the words, he knew that their ideas were running thin, desperation sinking in on all their faces.

He turned his head slightly to look at Felix, whose face was placid, pale, clammy... Changbin didn't look much better, clutching his hand tightly, muttering words Minho could not hear, either, though from the sad look in his eyes he could only guess.

He quickly tore his eyes away, a lump already re-forming in his throat as his vision blurred with the impending need to cry. He wished he could do something to help, but he was just a human – completely useless.

He shouldn't even be here.

And yet Felix was like that because Chan had been after him. Minho bit down on his bottom lip hard. He ignored the pain that flashed through him; he knew he deserved it. It was only a small fraction of what Felix felt then and there. His fists clenched in the dirt and he turned his teary eyes towards the sky, staring up at the full moon that loomed heavily amongst its bed of stars.

Minho felt resentment as he stared up at it, despite its beauty; he'd often heard them mutter the Moon Goddess moves in mysterious ways. As he stared at his dying friend, he wondered what possible reason she could ever have to do this. It wasn't fair.

He almost chuckled; he was nothing but a human, and yet he still found himself praying to a goddess he hadn't even known existed until then, though he did not doubt that she was up there, somewhere, watching their stories unfold in the way she had arranged.

He couldn't bear to look at it anymore.

"I can do it." He looked up at the sound of Jeongin's voice, who had finally spoken up for the first time since they all huddled together. Seungmin still eyed him warily, and Minho bit the inside of his cheek; he didn't understand why everyone seemed so afraid of the boy.

"I'm not all that tired, and... I don't have to worry about... limitations..." His voice grew fainter with each passing second, and those gathered all shot one another worried looks. "I couldn't take all of you, of course, but... a handful, maybe..." Minho could hear the insecurity building in his voice, and Jisung seemed to pick up on it as well since he smiled reassuringly.

"Alright, let's try that. How many do you think you can carry?"

Jeongin eyed the camp, biting his lip. "Five, maybe six. The more people I carry, the slower I'll get, though." Jisung frowned contemplatively.

"Okay, Hyunjin, you'll lead the rest back to the pack?" Hyunjin nodded determinedly. "Minho, Changbin, Felix and I will go with you. The lighter, the better, right?" Jeongin nodded as well. Jisung exhaled softly, eyes sweeping the camp. He nodded again, as though to reassure himself. "The rest, I'll see you back home."

All the wolves nodded; Minho was momentarily stunned by their loyalty, but then again, werewolves had always been loyal, hadn't they? As his eyes zeroed in on Jisung, he noticed a tightness in the set of his lips, a tenseness of his shoulders. Something was bothering him, but he didn't know what.

He slowly pushed himself to his feet, dusting off his pants as he came up to join them. Some of the wolves shot him dirty looks and growled under their breaths, though they quickly piped down once Jisung fixed them with his stare.