A/N: rewritten due to changes in writing style
The older male that had guided him throughout the journey had finally stopped after what had felt like hours walking mindlessly through the forest.
"We're here, kid"
The voice was rough and low, yet, it was the words that came out of his mouth that startled Minki. He looked at the man confused. They were still deep in the forest and he couldn't spot anything that slightly resembled a pack. Noticing the disorientated boy, the old man softly laughed as he patted Minki's back.
"I'm dropping you a bit farther from the pack for safety measures. You can find their pack just at the end of this path"
Minki's guide added while he pointed at the dirt road both of them had been walking on, for a while. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he nodded his head and started walking as he had been instructed.
"Hey!" The guide called out for him, making Minki turn around, so as to glance at him "We all want this to work but remember to be safe. Remember who we are dealing with... Goodluck"
Without any more words or even a slight nod of his head, Minki continued on walking down the dirt road; his thoughts tangled with each other, making them unreadable and messy. Furiously, his heart was beat in his chest, following, blindly and naively, the rhythm sound of dread. He couldn't help but think how dangerous his task was. It was, already, a dangerous task in itself – entering enemy's grounds – the fact that the enemy happened to be the most ruthless wolf he had ever heard about, only came to add more danger to it. The simple thought of that wolf made his bones shiver tremendously, like it did to anyone who had a body and a heart.
When he was fully enlightened about his mission, every single cell in his body told him not to go through with it. His pack wasn't worth giving his life for. Why would he die just to repay the dead? It was ridiculous. Despite knowing he would never have the courage to do it, Minki was certain that his Alpha would. He was confident, Jungkook would risk everything for his pack. Many times he had proved that to him.
That little detail was all that Minki needed to say "yes". Ever since that day that he was brought into the pack and stood face to face with Jungkook, he admired him. At the beginning, he refused to believe Jungkook was the wolf from the tale. He tried to swallow his admiration in, too in shock to actually believe a wolf like him existed – he needed proof. Therefore, it was no surprise to him or to Jungkook, when he decided to challenge the Alpha in front of the pack. He learned the veracity of the tale in a harsh, yet, glorious way. That was the day he promised to become like Jungkook. To become all those things, he was: to be brave, strong, kind, admirable. All those things that made Jungkook the best Alpha he had ever known.
And so, Minki had accepted the terrifying mission. By succeeding, he hoped to make Jungkook proud and contribute to the pack's wellbeing. He wanted to be the hero, although, he didn't comprehend how painful it is to be one and above all, to become one, stay one.
Derailing from his thoughts, Minki's mouth hanged open in shock at the sight. In front of him was a tall grey stone wall that seemed to circle around the pack. He had never seen something like that, such a terrifying and intimidating structure.
"You over there!"
An angry voice called out for him. Raising his head slowly, Minki noticed someone standing at the top of the grey stone fortification. He was still too in shock at the immensity of the structure to speak. Afterall, he hadn't really prepared his lines. His heart skipped a beat, upon hearing the big wooden doors opening. With wobbly legs, he took a step forward. Standing at the entrance of the fortification was now the man that had once stood above it. He looked at Minki up and down, inspecting every single aspect about him.
"Are you a rogue?"
The man asked, quirking his eyebrow in curiosity. Minki just nodded his head, seizing the opportunity. He fit the part, perfectly actually. Minki carried nothing with him, he was all dirty and worn out from the journey. Stupidly enough and surprising Minki, the man seemed to believe him and, with a slight movement of his hand, he motioned Minki to follow him inside.
Fear colored his veins as he stepped into the fortification that he was deeply intimidated by. Shakingly and hesitantly, he followed the man, yet with each step, the feeling of turning around and running back home, exponentially grew in his heart. The environment that surrounded the pack only worsened his state. Unlike the Bad Blood pack, men fought with each other and argued about the tiniest of details. The whole place reeked of dry blood, the sky was grey and little leafage decorated the place, most of it dry. A group of men carrying wood logs caught Minki's attention as he followed the man. He kept his eyes on them, trying to figure out where were they headed too. Something inside of him, persisted on telling him it was important to do so. However, the sound of the man beside him speaking, forced him to let his curiosity go.
"I'm bringing you to the Alpha, so that we can get you settled in"
Minki felt like screaming for help; he never opened up his mouth to speak. The Alpha from this pack had a reputation that was anything but kind. There was no way for Minki to prepare, to meticulously plan an escape in case things went sour. Surely, his reputation had a bit of truth in it. What would he do to him? The boy's mind ran with the worst scenarios possible. Despite the lingering fear, his thoughts vanished once he spotted the man carrying the logs again. They trailed one after another, forming a long line and as they waited for their turn, they argued and fought as if it was something natural, innate to them. Minki could not believe what he was seeing.
The countless men were laying the logs next to each other, structuring what it seemed to look like a huge bonfire, just waiting to be lit up. It was huge, standing taller than the rest of the building, and still, the men kept on pilling more and more. The sight brought chills down Minki's spine, he kept on wondering what could that possibly be for. What kind of event needed a fire that big? Certainly, a fire as such would burn the whole forest, wouldn't it?
The man that had been guiding him, tugged on his arm, tired of waiting for Minki to go back to walking. Minki's eyes never left the bonfire as he was dragged towards the pack house where he was going to meet the Alpha. He had a strange feeling on the pit of his stomach. A feeling that terrified him, made his body go cold and numb. It felt like something incredibly gruesome and horrible was brewing right in front of him but he couldn't see it. He just knew it was there, waiting to happen. Minki tried to shake the image away from his head, maybe he was just overexaggerating – maybe his fears were making him feel things that weren't there.
It's just that... that bonfire that he had seen was awfully familiar to the one he had heard about. On the tale.
‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾
It had been an hour or so since Hani had left the pack with Jungkook.
After what had happened yesterday with Jimin, the group's mood dropped heavily. The room went quiet, silent, dead. No one spoke, no one moved. Everyone was too in shock and too confused with Jimin's reaction and his odd confession. The Alpha was the first to try and pick back the pace of the conversation. He explained that him and Hani were headed towards the Endymion forest, in search of a cave that was supposed to clear some questions out about Jungkook and help them understand further their bond. The group asked no more questions, everyone was still too caught up in the previous moment. After that, Hani and Jungkook left the cabin.
When they got home, neither Hani or Jungkook spoke. Silence once more clouded their heads. Only some small words, a few lines were uttered between each other, mostly about the trip: what to take, what not to take. It was a pointless conversation, in a way. They didn't know how long the journey would take, how many days would they need to explore the cave and whatnot, that's if the cave indeed existed which, truthfully, neither of them knew. The mates were going into this journey blinded, lost already. All that they had as certainty was one another and their hope for answers.
The morning that followed was a quiet one too. They both woke up early, grabbed their bags and headed for Jungkook's car. The Alpha had, the previous day, given Namjoon instructions concerning the pack, since he was going to be absent for a while. Namjoon reassured him, told him he would stay in touch with Jungkook as much as possible, so that the Alpha would be up to date with everything. So, with nothing holding them back, Hani and Jungkook left.
The car in which they were, now, was silent too, only the engine made a sound. Hani's mind was glued to Jimin's words; them and the tone of his voice had unsettled her deeply, worried her. The girl couldn't understand what they meant, what were they rooted in. Surely, she thought, there must have been a reason as to why Jimin was so confidently and boldly, accusing her of those things. And even then, Hani couldn't find the source. A simple accusation, a reminder of his broken eyes, forced her to go through all of her memories hastily; desperately, Hani searched for something, something that would tell her what she had done. At first, it seemed like a pointless task, yet, somehow, the girl found herself remembering something – a moment – that she had long ago buried inside the depths of her mind. Guild crawled down her stomach; a guilt that she could not name, nor identify or comprehend what had caused. And still, it was there. Inside her. Haunting her.
Hani remembered something that had happened a few days before her mother died. It had been during a winter day, her and her mother were at the pack. Her father and brother were away on a trip to an ally pack for a few weeks already. Hani was playing inside their pack house, drawing something she couldn't remember exactly. Her mother was sitting next to her, sewing a scarf for Hani since the winter was really cold that year. A knock on the door, startled both of them. Hani's mother got up to open the door, launching a quick worried glance to Hani, in the process. It was one of her father's betas, he seemed troubled and in a rush. He whispered something to Hani's mother's ear, causing the woman's eyes to widen. She whispered something back to him before closing the door and running towards the little girl. Without an explanation, she grabbed Hani and took her towards her father's office. She crouched down in front of her, brushing her hair from her face and instructing Hani very carefully about what to do. Doing as she had been told, Hani walked behind her father's desk and lifted the red carpet that decorated the brown floor. She remembered how fast her heart was beating as she opened the trapdoor. She remembered how her feet and hands were so shaky as she went down the stairs into their safe room. After that, all that she remembered was hearing the agitated tone in her mother's voice. Hearing her worry and despair, the sounds of someone screaming. Soon, her mother was joining Hani in the safe room. Her hands were shaky as she held Hani's face tenderly, the little girl was still confused about everything. They never spoke of their day and so, Hani chose to forget it.
That event seemed to had been lost in her mind, in the midst of all the childhood memories she kept. Perhaps, because at the time it seemed something trivial of little importance to be reminded of. Now, it seemed vital to understanding what Jimin had accused her of. Unfortunately, the beta that had warned her mother had died a few years ago, right around the time of her mother's death.
"Baby?" Jungkook's voice made Hani's thoughts cease for a second. "I'm stopping the car over there, just before the northern pack's territory"
The Alpha entered with the car inside the dense forest and parked it behind a tree. Swiftly, Hani and Jungkook got out of the vehicle, grabbed their bags, which had only some essentials and their clothes, and faced the forest. The woods that surrounded them, trapped them, were dark and humid. It caused a chill to creep down Hani's body. Swallowing in her fears and worries, the girl, clutching hard the straps of her bag, approached the Alpha who, attentively, scanned the road ahead of them. Gently, she reached for his hand and immediately, sensing her warmth, Jungkook's eyes locked with hers. Softly he smiled at her, before pressing a small kiss to her forehead and then, leading them into the forest.
"We are going by foot?"
Hani asked, swinging Jungkook's hand and hers back and forth as she walked through the dirt path that they were following.
"Yeah, we have to head north towards the Endymion forest"
"Wouldn't it be faster if we shifted into wolf form?"
"I don't..." Jungkook said, swallowing the lump in his throat. "I don't shift and I don't want to shift"
Hani knew that Jungkook was slighlyt reluctant about shifting, despite knowing so, she was still surprised at how strongly he refused to do it. The Alpha noticed his mate's perplexed eyes and he sighed. He hated having to talk about his wolf, they just simply didn't get along. They weren't compatible and couldn't understand each other. In Jungkook's mind that made sense. He wasn't his wolf; he was the wolf that had given to him, a wolf that he did not want.
"Whenever I shift, he becomes in charge. He gets in control an-" Jungkook stopped himself for a bit, taking a deep breath. "He gets in control and people get hurt. I'm not risking something bad happening."
The girl wanted to say something to console him, something to try and make him understand that no matter what, that wolf was part of him. He couldn't run away from him or keep him in a cage. However, she refrained from doing it. Jungkook's face was hardened and he was paying attention to the environment that surrounded them, probably trying to see if anyone was following them.
"If you're tired just tell me. I'll find a place for us to rest."
Hani was going to nod her head at Jungkook when, harshly and quickly, he grabbed her; he ran with her in his arms towards a broad tree. The girl's back was pressed against the trunk and Jungkook leaned his body against hers. Worriedly, the Alpha glanced at her; motioning with his finger against his lips, for her to be quiet. She did as she had been told; the feeling of the saferoom, the lingering moments of anxiety, the darkness, the humidity, her mother's panicked voice. Like her mother, Jungkook was shielding the girl from things she knew nothing of. At last, the Alpha stepped away from her, deeply, he sighed.
"C'mon it's not safe here, we need to hurry"
Jungkook whispered to her ear and, without allowing her to ask any more questions, grabbed her hand and dragged her behind him, towards the dirt path. Hani looked behind her, gazing at the spot where Jungkook had his eyes, previously, fixated on.
Far from where they were, a group of men tried to bring a tree down. Violently, they exchanged angry words between each other. It was an odd sight, an odder one when she noticed the grey structure that peeked from the tall trees. Foolishly, Hani wondered what could that place be.
Too naïve to notice the fear on her mate's eyes as he walked as fast as he could away from there. Away from the place that took away from him everything. The place he wanted to keep Hani away from, for he knew, it would take her too.