My Way ||| Ateez

39

He squeezed San's hand again and the alpha knew it was a warning for what came next.

"I met Chan when we were teenagers. There was definitely a connection there and we started to get to know each other and spent a lot of time together. He was probably one of the nicest alphas there. He wasn't stuck up or pompous. He was just... Chan. Loving, sweet, protective. Everything an omega dreamed of." Wooyoung's voice caught in his throat and San fought back his jealousy to wrap his arm around his omega to comfort him.

Lizbeth looked slightly confused as she looked between the couple. "Chan? But aren't you?"

"I guess you can't sense everything, can you?" San said, trying to keep the harsh tone out of his voice. "I'm not Wooyoung's first mate."

The other alpha's eyes widened in surprise. He couldn't really blame here. From what he had learned being with the pack, Wooyoung's mating history was very uncommon.

"Chan was my first. We mated on my eighteenth birthday. I was so happy to get to be chosen by him and at the time, I thought everything was going to be perfect. But... Then I had a hard time getting pregnant. When it had been a year, the elders starting interfering. They would make potions for me to take, making my heat stronger, and sometimes making it happen more often."

Both alphas flinched when he said that.

"But my mate was so supportive through it all, putting up with my mood swings and excessive neediness. My depression... He as there through it all. Until the war came."

"War?" Lizbeth interrupted.

"You, you didn't hear?" San asked, looking shocked. Even he had heard of it when he was on his own.

"We don't get much news out this way. Packs haven't been a thing out here in a long time. It's all settlements and lone wolves."

"Did we really get that far away?"

Lizbeth nodded. "Now what war?"

"Some of the stronger packs banned together, feeling that they were superior and that they should be in charge. They have called themselves the Alpha Pack." Wooyoung said, cringing at the name.

Lizbeth snorted. "Original."

The other two laughed before Wooyoung continued. "Well when they made their intentions known, all of the other packs joined up to fight them."

"So the two packs that were lost..."

"Hongjoong and Yeosang's pack, and Seonghwa's family, were destroyed. Alpha pack was too strong, they had too many powerful alphas." Wooyoung looked down again. "Jongho's pack abandoned him because he was wounded. And Mingi's pack thought he was dead, although I guess he could turn his link off. Which makes sense because his father is... He's the head alpha of Alpha pack."

Lizbeth sighed and nodded her head. "I thought that might be the case. Which supports the hunted theory I had." She muttered something else to herself that the other two couldn't catch. "And you two?"

"I've been alone since I was born. I have no idea who my family is, nor do I care." San said, picking at the basket of fries in front of him. Wooyoung leaned into his shoulder and he felt himself relax a little. "I found my real family so that's all that matters." He finished, resting his head on top of Wooyoung's.

"My pack went to join the war. Chan went, of course. All the alphas did besides the elders. They retreated when defeat was certain. I stayed locked in my house the entire time so the other omegas and betas didn't... They enjoyed telling me how worthless and broken I am. I was a disgrace." Wooyoung's lower lip trembled but he took a deep, ragged breath to calm himself.