The Scent of Miracles [ Jikook ]

Chapter 15

When the two Omegas returned to the wolf pack, they were greeted by complete and utter chaos.
Taehyung's pack mates almost fell over each other as they grabbed their children and hid in their caves. Some of the hunters and guards picked up the broken pieces of what used to be a stone table but now looked like mere rubble as it was scattered everywhere around the place.

"What happened?" Taehyung asked one of the Alphas who grimaced uncomfortably. He looked around and lowered his voice, a hand in front of his mouth to make sure the people around them wouldn't freak out even more.

"I'm not sure myself… Leader Min and Jungkook suddenly started fighting. Then they took off."

"To where?"

"North. Towards the sea."

Jimin grabbed Taehyung's hand and pulled.
He looked nervous, much more than he did before. It's not that he had doubted Tae's words but seeing the damage with his own eyes made it even more shocking. More real.
Taehyung himself seemed to feel the same way because he followed Jimin without hesitation. Together, they ran up the hill behind the village and across those endless stone plains. Running until the crystal clear blue of the ocean lit up the horizon. Their hearts started to race.

"I can smell them…" Taehyung whispered and Jimin nodded his head, swallowing hard. He noticed it too. Not only their scents but also the distinctive iron stench of someone's blood.
Please, Jimin prayed to the forest spirits, it can't be Jungkook's. He has to be okay.
By now, all anger had faded away. Whatever happened before didn't matter. His bold claim that he didn't care about the younger Alpha's life, it had all been a stubborn lie born from anger and broken trust.
He was so stupid. So damn childish. If something truly happened to Jungkook, Jimin didn't think he could forgive himself.

"No!"
Taehyung's shocked gasp woke Jimin from the guilt induced haze and made him flinch before he followed the shocked wolf's example and ripping his eyes open in disbelief.
They found Jungkook collapsed on one of the cliffs right above the raging sea. Waves crashed against the stone walls as the wolf leader stepped closer with a stone ax clenched in his fist and lifted above his head, getting ready to strike.

"I'm… Not...a traitor…" They heard the young Alpha whisper without any strength behind his crumbling voice. It's a helpless sound that had Jimin's heart drop to the pits of his stomach, chest feeling tight when the leader yelled back.
"Lies. All you Jeons do is lie to my face and scheme behind my back! Where's my fox?! He was supposed to be mine! I deserved to have him after Jitae was stolen from me! That fucking bitch… Even when I killed your father, he refused to come back to me."

The older paused and sneered. His expression belonged to a person who lost himself to old grudges, to unfulfilled desires of the long gone past.
"I'll never forgive them for embarrassing me in front of my pack. Your father and the foxes, those deceitful creatures, they truly deserved each other. I should've disposed of you, too, when I got rid of your old man. It would have spared me the trouble of having to raise you just to be disappointed again in the end. I had so much trust in you, Jeon Jungkook, I can't believe you threw it all away."

Struck by the brutal truth of the situation, Jungkook's posture instantly straightened together with the before flattened ears. His burning eyes, as well, grew wide, filling with sadness, with tears he held back since he was such a small, fragile child.
Maybe, deep inside, he still was.
"It wasn't… it wasn't Jitae Hyung who murdered my father but… you…?"

Rolling his eyes, the older snarled, "Of course. I don't accept traitors in my pack. Never. Jitae was obsessed with him and you brats. Even after I got rid of your father, that bitch still spit in my face, claiming he'd rather die than come back to me. That's why, when you showed up with that pink fox of yours, I thought it must be fate. Finally, I'd be able to take from you what your father took from me. And even if it didn't work out that way, I knew your desire for revenge would make the two of you miserable for all eternity. And I swear, I would've enjoyed every single second of it."