As he slept that night, Donghyuck found himself inside of a strange, haunting nightmare.
He was still in the palace bedroom, lying on the bed with his eyes still closed, his body seemingly asleep while his mind was halfway awake and aware. A breeze brushed past his cheek, like the displacement of air as someone walked, and then there was a voice against his ear, hot breath on his neck.
"You look so peaceful, Your Highness," the voice said, deep and husky and completely unfamiliar. "You're the most beautiful when you're asleep. Has anyone ever told you that?"
Donghyuck's body let out an aborted twitch. Even as his brain became more alert, he found that he was unable to move his body or even open his eyes. Fear and panic coursed through him as he tried to move, tried to look and see who was speaking to him, but he couldn't. He had no choice but to lay there and listen, and hope that whoever it was wouldn't do more than talk to him.
"I can't wait to see how beautiful you are covered in blood," the voice continued, with an excited lilt that made Donghyuck shudder, "the moment I kill you will be the best moment of my life. I've killed many omegas before, but none have excited me as much as you do."
Donghyuck felt the soft, feathery touch of a fingertip against his cheek, tracing over his face. He wanted to flinch, squirm away and avoid the touch, but he couldn't. He continued to lie still, his breathing starting to get heavier from panic.
"Are you scared, Your Highness?" The voice laughed, most likely taking notice of his quickened breathing. "Omegas are so cute when they're afraid. They look at us alphas with those big eyes, tears on their cheeks, pleading for their lives so adorably. It's always so funny to watch... because they don't know how it just makes us want to kill them even more."
The most Donghyuck could do in his state was let out a soft whimper. He fought so hard to regain control of his muscles, to wake his body so that he could run away and find one of the guards, but he remained frozen and helpless.
"I thought about killing you here, tonight. It would be so easy, your guards are asleep in the hallway and you're all alone, so weak and vulnerable," the stranger hummed, his fingertip now ghosting over Donghyuck's lips. The omega felt his stomach lurch with nausea.
"But I thought about it... and I think I would enjoy it more if I made your king watch me take your life."
Panic settled heavily over Donghyuck's body, threatening to suffocate him.
"How fun would that be? To force him to watch as I ravage your body and slit your throat, to let him see you defiled and covered in your own blood. I bet he'd lose his mind... how much do you think it would destroy him?"
Donghyuck whimpered again, the farthest extent of protest his body was allowing him at the moment. The stranger just laughed, apparently amused by Donghyuck's distress.
"My leader would be so pleased... to see the queen dead and the king completely ruined. It would be almost too easy for her to take the throne then," the voice chuckled, his nail scratching against the side of Donghyuck's face as he moved his fingers down to caress his jawline. "Who could've guessed that the crack in the king's near flawless reign that my leader has been searching for all these years would turn out to be a measly omega? This is why your kind needs to be eradicated, all you ever do is make alphas weaker."
Donghyuck's fingers twitched. The stranger pressed an unforgiving thumb up against the omega's scent gland, digging painfully into the spot where his mating bite was supposed to go.
"It's almost a shame that I have to get rid of you though. You're so gorgeous, I'd love to keep you as a little pet."
The thumb was removed. The air around his face became cooler, indicating that the stranger had stood up straight and was preparing to leave the room. Donghyuck let out a shaky sigh of relief.
"Goodbye for now, Your Highness. I'll see you again soon, and next time I'll make sure I have those pretty eyes looking right at me the whole time, up until the very end."
Donghyuck heard the door open and close. He laid awake for a few hours more, trembling and trying to get himself to move so that he could run and find help, but eventually sleep took over him once again and left him unconscious.
┈ ୨ 👑 ୧ ┈
As promised, the king showed up at the omega's bedroom door early in the morning to wake him, but the smile Mark had been wearing immediately dropped off of his face when he took in Donghyuck's appearance. The omega's eyes were red, rimmed with dark circles, and he was shaking and hugging his arms around his torso. Alarm bells went off inside Mark's head, his instincts kicking into defense mode as he dropped the bouquet on top of the dresser and guided Donghyuck back towards his bed.
"Hey. What happened? What's the matter?" Mark asked hurriedly. Donghyuck bit his lip and shrugged, shifting on his feet nervously. Mark rubbed his shoulder sympathetically, trying to comfort him at least a little bit.
"You have to talk to me, Donghyuck. You look like you've barely slept... what's got you so shaken up?"
The omega pursed his lips and averted his eyes, staring down at the floor. "I... had a weird dream last night. A scary dream. I can't really tell if it was real or if it was just in my head, and I'm scared."
"Okay," Mark said gently, sinking down onto the edge of the bed and pulling Donghyuck down to sit next to him. "Tell me about it. What about the dream was scary for you?"
Donghyuck visibly hesitated, wringing his hands in his lap. All Mark could do was keep a firm hand on his shoulder and stare at him encouragingly, trying not to let his own mind run rampant with worry.
"It was here, in this room," Donghyuck whispered, still not looking Mark in the eyes, "there... there was a stranger, an alpha I think, watching me while I slept. He was talking to me, telling me how he couldn't wait to kill me..."
Mark's blood ran cold. Donghyuck trailed off, clenching his fists in his lap and looking like even just recalling the dream was distressing for him.
"I couldn't move or open my eyes, no matter how hard I tried. It was like I was paralyzed. He touched me, and he told me that I would look pretty covered in my own blood."
"He touched you?" Mark cut in immediately, his eyes widening in alarm, "where did he touch you, Donghyuck? Are you okay?"
"He just touched my face, and my neck a little," Donghyuck replied quickly, suddenly looking guilty, "sorry, I should have worded that better. I didn't mean to scare you, I'm okay."
Mark relaxed a little, looking relieved. "No, it's alright. Please, continue... what else did he say to you?"
"He... he said that he wanted to wait until he could kill me in front of you, because he wanted to make you watch," Donghyuck murmured, glancing up at Mark hesitantly, "he said his leader would be happy that he killed me and broke the king's spirit at the same time. He told me he would come back for me soon, and that next time he'd make sure I was awake. Then he left, and that was it."
Within seconds, Mark went through around five different emotions at once. Fear, panic, anger, betrayal and confusion. The soldiers back at the palace had been right, the alpha working with the Red Moon was here with them, and he was plotting to kill Donghyuck. He had even managed to sneak into Donghyuck's bedroom in the middle of the night without even getting caught.
"Mark," Donghyuck said softly, looking uneasy, "what do we do? Do you think it was more than just a dream? Did that... did that really happen?"
Mark wanted to kill the alpha that had done this to Donghyuck. How dare he threaten his omega like this, scaring him and even going as far as to lay his filthy hands on Donghyuck's beautiful face? Whoever did this was going to pay with blood, Mark would make sure of it.
"I think... I think it was real, Donghyuck. I think the alpha spy is here with us, in the palace."
Tears pooled in Donghyuck's eyes, and he started to shake more violently. "Then... there's really someone here that wants to kill me? I'm really going to die?"
"No, you're not going to die," Mark said immediately, taking Donghyuck into his arms and wrapping him in a tight hug. For a split second, he worried that he might have crossed a line, but then the omega was hugging him back and burying his face into his neck. The feeling of Donghyuck's tears dripping down onto his collarbones only fueled Mark's anger. "I'm going to protect you, I'll make sure that nothing happens to you, okay?"
Donghyuck sniffled, tightening his arms around Mark's waist. The king's heart shattered, stroking the back of Donghyuck's hair and trying to balance the need to comfort the omega with the need to storm out into the hallway and tear the palace apart until he found the vile creature who did this to his omega.
"You should come sleep with me in my room from now on, I'll be able to protect you better if you're with me," Mark muttered. Donghyuck immediately shook his head.
"I can't... he said he wants to kill me in front of you, sleeping with you in your room would only give him the opportunity to do that," Donghyuck whined, growing more distressed. Mark rubbed his lower back and did his best to try and soothe him.
"But I can't let you sleep in here all by yourself anymore... I'm just going to worry about you if I leave you alone. If I'm next to you, I'll be able to make sure nothing bad happens to you."
Donghyuck shook his head again with more vigor, fresh tears spilling onto his cheeks. "I'm scared, Mark. He's going to come after us if he knows we're sleeping in the same room... he's going to hurt you too."
Mark looked down at him in surprise, his heart crumbling. "Don't even think or worry about me, okay? My top priority is keeping you safe... and I need to be with you in order to do that."
Donghyuck lifted his head to look up at him, his cheeks wet with tears and his lips red and raw from how he had been chewing on them nervously. Mark found himself wanting to kiss all of it away, from the dampness on his cheeks down to the scabs and bite marks on his lower lip.
"It's too risky, he's gonna find us... he's going to know, and he's going to kill me, and make you watch," Donghyuck whimpered. Mark shook his head firmly, unable to resist reaching out and gently swiping away a stray tear on the omega's cheek with his thumb.
"You're going to be okay. It's all going to be okay. I'll be there with you, and we'll increase the security around our room. We'll make sure John and Jeno are keeping watch at all times. Don't you trust them?"
Donghyuck bit his lip again and nodded. Without fully thinking about it, Mark moved his thumb down and pulled Donghyuck's lip out from between his teeth, tapping the tip of his nose afterwards in a gentle reprimand. He failed to notice the way Donghyuck flinched and blushed.
"I trust them too. They'll keep us safe, and I'll keep you safe. There is nothing to worry about."
Donghyuck let out one last shaky sigh, his shoulders dropping as he finally gave in. "Okay. I trust you."
"You trust me? That's new," Mark said lightheartedly, giving Donghyuck a tentative little smile. Donghyuck weakly punched him on the arm.
"Shut up," he mumbled, with no real bite to it. Mark just chuckled and took the omega's hands, gently helping him back to his feet.
"Now... I know the initial moment was dampened a little, but I did get you the flowers I promised," Mark said, grabbing the bouquet again and setting it in Donghyuck's arms. The omega looked down at it and smiled, quickly wiping the remaining tears on his cheeks and clearing his throat.
"They're beautiful, Mark, thank you. I'm sorry I kind of ruined the gesture."
"You didn't ruin anything, don't apologize. I'm thankful you told me... keeping it to yourself could have been dangerous."
Donghyuck nodded, scratching the back of his neck shyly. "Um... are we still supposed to meet with the monarch today? Do I have to call in the servants to redo my makeup really quick?"
"If you feel comfortable going, then sure... but I can tell them that you're not feeling well, and that they can meet you some other time."
"No, it's okay... I'll go with you. I, um... I kind of don't wanna be left alone, right now... I'd rather be with you..."
Mark grinned and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. "I understand. I'll wait outside until you're ready, okay?"
Donghyuck nodded again, watching as Mark left the room before exhaling shakily and collapsing back onto his mattress.
He still couldn't help the anxiety that sat heavy on his chest from the incident, the anticipation of waiting for the next moment the alpha would try to attack, but being with Mark did make him feel oddly protected and safe. He didn't know when he had started to think this way, but in his mind, there was no place in this strange world that was safer than being in Mark's embrace, with his arms around his waist and his lips against his hair and his soft voice telling him "I'll protect you".
He pointedly did not unpack that thought or the emotions that came with it as he sat at the vanity and let the servants re-apply his makeup, continuing to push down and deny his feelings just as he had been doing since they first arose.