" oh come on dad, it was just a stance.." jennie whined as she followed her father to the kitchen
" it doesn't matter, I told you not to go to the training grounds " he replied lowly without even looking back at her.
" but I w-" " there is no but Jennie how many times do we have to go through this, you're an omega not a fighter. I want you here, safe!, understand! if I catch you there one more time I will have Eujin follow and report every step you take to me, are we clear !?" her father stopped to look at her strictly and she released a held breath in frustration before nodding while lowering her head. he picked a water bottle with a sigh, giving her a last glance almost as if he felt guilty "go grab something to eat before you do your homework alright ?" she kept silent, looking to the side and folding her arms. Her father moved closer anyway, kissing her head lightly before he turned away and at finally left the kitchen.
" awkward .. " jay squeaked quietly as he held his coffeecup. chanyeol slapped his arm with a frown.
" are you ok ?" he'd asked afterwards but she only looked away not sure if she really wants to answer that " I just don't get it.. if I wasn't his daughter he wouldn't be so strict, I bet he'd even encourage me.. anything for a stronger pack " she knew that wasn't necessarily true. her father was a known alpha, people respected but also feared him for how strong their pack was, how many alliances he had and the history of his victories and merciful acts that didn't only paint him as a strong leader but also a hero to some, an idol to look up to and listen to for he always did what he thought was right, people learned to respect him and be thankful for that. She'd heard many stories of alphas they'd meet now and then still showing gratitude, some stories she couldn't believe were true herself, all she's ever seen of her father, the great alpha sojoon, was overconcern, embarrassing care and yes leadership. she was proud of her dad and she loved him but she couldn't help and think that maybe he loved her too much and the fact that she had been the youngest in the pack with 16 years compared to everyone else being around their 20s didn't help her case in convincing the rest. She knew they only saw her as the puppy of the pack, the little fragile omega.
" at least you've got a dad who worries, every time my parents come for a visit they ask me about my hunt count" jay complained, shrugging his shoulder disgusted " I mean who even calls it that and it the 21 century we have grocery stores now"
jennie couldn't help but smile lightly at his comment as she came closer and chanyeol titled his head "I think they're just scared we'll forget we're wolves, killing your own food.. theres a sense of respect there" he shrug his shoulders, jennie pressed her lips together somewhat agreeing while jay rolled his eyes. Shed never killed herself but sojoon made sure to explain her where her meat came from, he made sure to show her how to prepare a dead rabbit or handle it. she knew that killing should never be pleasure but essential. it was important to her father not to waste food or take it for granted.
when she was little, she remembered, he taught her to understand the the meaning of being a wolf, how it used to be and how it was now, he taught her to understand the other part of herself even the parts he most likely had not much knowledge of himself, like the heat of an omega. he taught her that it was nothing embarrassing or shameful, he protected her and comforted her throughout each cycle. Her mother was an omega too but she'd died when Jennie was only 5, there was no memories left of her and her father was left alone as an alpha in explaining what it meant for an omega to grow up. those were things she only learned to appreciate as she got older in a pack filled with different opinions and characters.
some nights she'd often glance out of the window to watch the betas practise, she remembered trying to recreate the moves in her room until her father caught her, he never approved of it, he'd get angry whenever she so much as mentioned fighting. he said omegas dont fight, they are the gem of a pack, precious and they should be protected. without omegas there would be no future.
usually other packs had more than one omega but in her pack she was the only one. her father used to be in a different pack before but he hadraised one of them to be a great alpha herself and then everyone else including jennie came around creating the need to form a new pack as the current one had grown too big. They'd always joke around and tease sojoon on basically adopting 6 kids by this decision.
jay the youngest sibling of 8 children, a beta, he couldnt stay with his parents because they were leading an organisation that took care of the old, sick and disabled wolves that nobody wanted. they still visited plenty enough to smother the other members and even sojoon himself however and chanyeol, also a beta who was born with a rogue father, his mother had abandoned her old lifestyle of packs to embrace being unbound with him, it had been a complicated relationship. she didnt reach out to him much let alone visit, no one knew where she ever was and chanyeol seemed to somewhat understand her and his fathers reasonings, he'd accepted it "I'm happy with where I am and what I have" he would always say. He was a kind soul with a goofy and optimistic attitude. he never searched conflict instead he'd rather avoid it or help solve it, something she would never understand and in the past shed often tried getting on his nerves so he would eventually explode and show he wasnt always so calm and peaceful, but he never raged out on her even when he easily could. he was a good fighter aswell but he always fought with somewhat of an easiness and calm aura surrounding him. like even his worst enemies would get the chance to give up or retreat before he would attack.
Jennie sighed while she laid in her bed, lazily turning the pages of her diary to rethink her current life. she desperately wanted to do something more for the pack, it almost felt stupid to just be a part of it with no useful contribute. she could bare children, that's great but why is that all she should be. it was stupid.
there was chanyeol, running faster than the others, learning pack grounds and pathways faster than anyone. jay whos confidence and smooth talks got their negotiations and meetings going in their favour almost all the time, eujin the underestimated beta, she was as beautiful as the moon, long black hair and a body like a sculpture and she knew how to use it to her advantage, others looked twice once they learn what she's capable of, sometimes jennie wondered if she should fear her too. but then she remembered she had the luck to be a part of eujins pack and her protection because as cold as she could be, she was nothing but loyal to sojoon and the pack.
eujin didnt talk about where she came from and why she seemed willing to even give her life for sojoon but whatever it was, it left her dozing off whenever asked about. jennie understood not to pry when sojoon had angrily warned jay of it while his eyes glew in red, that one time hed nearly pressured her.
jennie well aware experienced her father being mad or angry but she'd never experienced him like she'd done that day, it was rare to see sojoon use his alpha title like he'd done that day. it wasn't something pleasant to witness, it was almost a bit scary to realize what power he really held over his pack. power she heard being abused in many other stories before. her father herself told her being an alpha was nothing to be proud of, "because being an alpha also means making a choice every single day" he would say "be a selfish monster or a controlled one."
she sat up at the reappearing sounds from the training grounds. her eyes glanced over to the window knowing well who it was as she moved her feet over the edge of the bed and stepped up to look out onto the field of grass and hay, weapon stands on the side.
her lips twitched into a slight smile, cheeks warming up into a blush as she laid eyes onto him training without a shirt, tan skin covered in sweat.
she swallowed, yes then there was jongin the first add to the pack, he was 4 years older than her, a beta, Jennie was 8 when her father had brought in jongin. he had been a part of the family ever since, she couldn't help but talk mostly to him about how her mother used to be. hed always spoke of her greatfuly and with nothing but kind words. she liked listening to him talking about how loving her mother was.
jongins parents were dead, most likely killed, all jennie knew was that jongin used to be a victim of trafficking, he never had a home. he was forced by betas to participate in underground fights against other children, adult men or women. sojoon saved him on the day he'd been injured badly during a fight, causing his so called owners to throw him out like garbage, left to die.
jennie remembered jongin telling her the story of how he'd went out once he recovered and tried taking revenge, sojoon had caught up to him, stopping him only to burn down the place himself once he saved as many of the trafficted kids he could with a group of other wolves missing their children or being previous victims.
it was another famous tale of the 8 shadows, a hot topic and heroic tale everyone had talked about but even thenneither her father nor jongin or any of the others had revealed it to be them. jennie often wished one day people would be telling a tale of her acts but on that day, surely she would say it had been here.
" yes, jongin I'm ok.. did you get out everyone else? " jennie mumbled to herself in pretend " please.. please it was nothing" her hand waved in a manner of brushing someones concern off and she giggled at her acting before looking out the window again and pursing her lips in a displeased pout as she watched eujin in her training clothes walk out to jongin and he stepped back taking the waterbottle she offered from her hands as he returned her smil " i see you still havent found it ?" her hand reached around his wrist with a frown and jennie got down to not be seen while she listened in, noticing aswell that the infamous black bracelet he wore wasnt on its usual spot.
" no, chan said I probably lost it on the run by the territory border yesterday, and with the snowstorm last night.. I'll check it later.. " he stated.
" well I was gonna head out, sojoon said he heard suspicious howling during the storm too, I'll keep an eye out "
" a howling ? shouldn't he be used to it by now and it was a storm afterall" jongin almost chuckled in response and jennie saw eujin shrugg her shoulders as she explained " he said it sounded distressed most likely a rogue sighting or something, it came from Namgils pack, they were probably chasing the poor thing down, honestly its just gonna be us wandering the woods along the territory line until we find the corpse again but this time its gonna take forever in this snow "
they continued talking as jongin agreed mostly while they head back inside, jennie thought hard to herself, she could find a corpse too and if her father saw how fast she found it maybe he'll finally see what she was actually capable off.
hesitating but at last convincing herself she put on warm clothing and packed more in a backpack, thinking if it were really too cold she could always shift and be warmed by her fur. but shifting was something wolves tried to do only on planned occasions. like the hunt or a simple run to relief stress, because shifting usually seemed too inconvenient considering it would leave them naked afterwards. that's why sojoon cared much for his betas to be trained in fighting. if in a disagreement a wolf shifted fully, it was a sign for war. thats the only time a wolf would be fighting another wolf in their shifted state. jennie had never witnessed it but she'd read and heard that it was nothing but a bloodbath when it had occured. it was hard to imagen for her despite the teeth and physik a shifted wolf had, shed always see them as more peaceful and cute than their human shape, which instead seemed more scary to her. more expressionate and aggressive.
once having finished packing she put another scarf around her before strapping on the backpack and making her way down the window to head for the forest.