The Last Lycans

Chapter 55 : Camp In

The boys all concluded that however dangerous that mine was, it was not as bad as staying in the freezing cold rain and they eventually followed Yuki down the narrow corridors of the old iron mine.

They lit their way in with flashlights and Hoseok damn near fainted when he shined it on the ceiling and saw a multitude of shiny white eyes flash back at him. Apparently not all the bats had left following Yuki's punch.

They made it to a larger room with a busted wooden door and they decided to establish camp there, at least temporarily.

''We need to cover any exit and reinforce the doors.'' Namjoon said, looking around.

''We have to map down this whole place and put cameras.'' Yoongi added.

''Baby steps boys, what we need is a fire to dry up and to gather some drinking water. Survival first, war after.'' Yu said. ''Can Jungkook, Jimin and Taehuyng go gather some fire wood? Don't bother finding dry wood in this weather, we'll have to use some other stuff to get the fire started.

''There is a small stream just south of here.'' Namjoon remarked.

''Jin, Hoseok can you go get us some water. We need at least five gallons per person to start, I believe the collapsible jugs are in Jin's bag.'' Yuki said.

''Namjoon, I'll leave you to get this fire started. Yoongi, would you mind exploring the cave to make sure the place is really unoccupied, I wouldn't want us to get surprised in our sleep by a bear.'' The girl added with a gentle smile as she took off her raincoat.

''And what are you doing?'' Jin asked, looking worried already.

''I'll go get us some dinner.'' Yu said with a corner smile revealing unnaturally pointy canines before she shifted into her wolf form.

Hoseok stopped her in her path and gave her a couple of chin scratches.

''By carefull, okay?'' the man asked.

As a reply, the tall white wolf wagged its tail and ran off with a bounce in her step.

''She'll be a fine alpha, don't you think?'' Namjoon said with a smile as the girl disappeared out of the cave.

By night fall, the scary looking mine looked almost homey.

The fire was crackling, and the smell of roasted rabbit was floating in the air. Everyone was sitting around the fire in their pj's and sleeping bags, enjoying their warm meal after a tough day of work.

''Get a good night of sleep, tomorrow we have to prepare the ritual... The new moon only happens once a month and we'll be under attack at the next full moon, this is our only shot so we have to do this right.'' Namjoon said, his tone serious.

''This plan is a far shot... Do you have a plan B in case tomorrow goes to shit?'' Yoongi asked.

''No... If we fail tomorrow, we'll have lost, simple as that.'' Namjoon said with a sigh.

''We won't fail.'' Yuki said in a matter-of-fact tone. ''I promise you.''

The group spend a moment in silence, taking in the importance of the day ahead of them.

''This whole ritual thing... it's like a wedding right...'' Jungkook said, stubbornly looking at the ground.

''Yeah... pretty much...'' Yoongi said, trying to act cool, but visibly flustered at the thought of Jungkook's implications.

''If this is a wedding, we should treat it like a celebration, not a chore we're stuck with.'' Jungkook said, gathering his courage to look up at Yuki.

The girls eyes went wide open and she covered her mouth to repress a chuckle.

''What ? You don't think an abandoned iron mine in the middle of the woods is romantic enough?'' the girl joked before elbowing Jungkook playfully.

''No it's not!'' Jungkook said, seemingly offended by Yu's joke. ''You deserve better than a rushed ceremony...''

Jin leaned over to Jungkook and pinched his cheek.

''Look at Kookie, getting all romantic!'' the oldest man teased.

''We're at war, we don't' have time to go wedding dress shopping and pick decorations!'' Namjoon argued. ''Besides this is Yuki we're talking about, to her romance means spicy chicken and combat training...''

''I don't know if that was an insult, but I'm not mad because it's true...'' Yu admitted.

''She would be pretty in a wedding dress...'' Jimin said with a slight pout.

''Agreed...'' Hoseok added as his imagination ran wild.

''We should have thought about this...'' Jin said, now also getting on board with Jungkook's idea.

''Too late for regrets, let's focus on what we can achieve, namely a ritual; NOT a wedding reception.'' Yoongi said, trying to put the subject to rest.

''I'm offended, really...I'm hurt...'' Taehuyng said, leaving the boys confused while turning over to him.

''I'm profoundly hurt by your lack of faith in me...'' Taehyung added with a sigh. '' Did you really think that I would pass on the opportunity of impulse buying a wedding dress the very day we agreed on doing this ritual thing?!'' he said with a triumphant grin.

Yoongi looked like he just got hit in the face with a shovel, but the rest of the boys looked pretty excited.

''Way to go hyung! You're the man!'' Jungkook praised.

''I know, I know...'' Tae said with a satisfied smile.

''I guess we're doing this, uh?'' Yu asked in a whisper while leaning closer to Namjoon.

''We're not talking them out of this, better roll with it...'' Namjoon agreed.

The whole pack laid their sleeping bags next to each other, to preserve body heat and they had a rock paper scissor tournament to pick the people who would lay on either side of Yuki.

They set an alarm every couple of hours for someone to refurbish the fire and quickly fell asleep.