Minki walked slowly towards the place that he had been assigned to. It was still deep in the night, not even a slight chance of morning coming in, in the horizon. It made one think that an eternal night lingered over them or that, perhaps the sun, had been finally defeated by the dark vastness of the universe. The forest made it look like the night was even darker. Minki glanced at the scenery above him – there was no stars, nothing to light up the darkness that engulfed him. The chilly frosty breeze swiftly pierced through the trees, weaving through the air creating chills in every body it touched. A puff of air contrasted with the dark scenery every time Minki breathed. His only reminder that he was indeed alive.
From afar, he spotted his supposed group. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for the day that awaited to begin. A group of men were standing in a circle all chatting amongst themselves about their task. Minki could hear them discussing strategies, coming up with teams amongst themselves; even different ways of killing were shared as if they were important information one should know. In the midst of all the familiar yet strange faces, Minki spotted one that he had been looking for the past few days. Hurrying up his steps, he marched towards the male that was leaned against one of the trees, his eyes on a notebook.
Abruptly, Minki snatched the notebook from Lucca's hands, catching the boy's attention. When their eyes met, Lucca chuckled dryly.
"Good morning to you too, grumpy pants"
Minki rolled his eyes and sighed. Gently, he closed the notebook and handed it out to Lucca. He scanned the area and tugging on Lucca's black shirt, he dragged him away from the group. When Minki was sure none of them could hear them, he shared a glance with Lucca.
"I had the weirdest uhh..." Minki struggled to explain what he had seen, what to call it, how to process those images in his head. "A... let's call it a nightmare."
Lucca raised his eyebrow in confusion but waited for Minki to finish speaking.
"I saw the Alpha in the woods. He was... eating" Minki whispered the words; his heart beat fast in his chest now that he was saying it out loud. "His diet?"
Hearing those words out loud, really made Minki realize how stupid and ridiculous he sounded. His heart kept on running in his chest, running away from those memories, panting heavily, desperate to drop that day into the void. Minki could never forget it, though. It had been haunting his every move, every thought, every breath, every heartbeat. Lucca's eyes were wide open, yet, he nothing said. Minki wondered if he knew about it at all. Had Minki misunderstood what Lucca had said?
At that moment, Lucca's hand reached for the collar of Minki's shirt. He pulled at it, almost making the boy stumble on his feet. There was a shift in Lucca's eyes. A shift so quick most wouldn't notice. The once calm boy Minki knew, carried a sharp and piercing glare in his eyes.
"Listen, whatever you saw" Lucca warned him. "I suggest you forget it"
"Why?" Minki asked, not being able to keep his curiosity in chains. "Why should I forget it, Lucca?"
"Because it is more dangerous to remember it than to see it" Lucca said, the words confusing Minki even more "So forget it Minki."
"I cannot forget something that haunts me" Minki wouldn't back down easily, not now that he believed Lucca knew more than what he was sharing. "If you want me to forget, you need to tell me why should I do it"
"Do you like trouble that much?" Lucca sighed and loosened his grip from Minki's collar. "Listen, if anybody even slightly suspects that you saw him... doing that... Minki you don't know what is in store for you"
"No one is going to know about it. I won't tell anyone and you won't either" Minki reassured the panicking wolf. "I just want to know why he does that. What can possibly motivate him to do something like this?"
"I'm not even sure of it myself" Lucca answered as he passed his hand through his light brown hair. "People don't know why he does it, if there is even a reason why he does it at all. It's just rumors."
"Just tell me, Lucca. Anything will help"
"F*ck, fine" Lucca scanned the area once more, confirming that everyone was too busy in the task at hand to notice the duo. "There's rumors that he knows a witch"
"A witch?"
"What one would call a witch. Sorcerer, magician. Someone who does rituals and gets what they want from them."
"So, the diet is a ritual?"
"People think so"
"For what?" Minki asked, his eyebrows scrunching in confusion. "What could possible need something like that?"
"Power"
The answer was short and simple, yet, Minki still struggled to understand what he was being told. Eating other people for power? Could something like that even happen? Was it working?
"Apparently, by consuming other alphas, his own power increases." Lucca explained, his voice mimicking the quiet breeze – barely noticeable. "His father was killed many years ago by a wolf. Ever since then, he is aiming for revenge. So, he is preparing for that day. He's getting all the power that he needs to defeat him, even if he needs to eat something more... meaty... in the process"
The world was a blur to Minki. He heard nothing besides Lucca's words. He could not believe what he was hearing, although, he had seen it – with his own eyes. His mind was dizzy, foggy. He wondered what could possibly made someone crave power that much. Why go that far for power? Something that one day you have and on the next, is taken away from you. And was it working? Was that ritual working? For how long had he been preparing for something like that?"
"What... wh-" Minki stammered, his mouth barely being able to form his thoughts into questions. "What kind of wolf ... what kind of wolf is that strong, that powerful, that scary... that would make that Alpha eat others of his kind, just to defeat him? Is there someone even that strong that one must prepare for? Is there a wolf that is so strong that it takes an army of wolves inside a single one, to die?"
"I am not sure" Lucca said, his eyes falling to his shoes. "Yet, everyone thinks that wolf is back again."
Minki's heart stopped in his chest. His breathing got caught in his throat. A wolf that ate another one was scary. Yet, a wolf that needed that sort of action from another to be defeated.... isn't it something much worse? Minki's mind rambled with possible explanations, created all sort of scenarios to try and make sense of this whole situation. He imaged what such a strong wolf would look like. He wondered what would happen when those two wolves clashed.
A battle between a wolf that fears nothing and a wolf that fears enough to feed off others.
"That one wolf is the one we are going after today" Minki's eyes widened in shock when those words left Lucca's mouth. "That one wolf with the scar. He's that wolf he fears so much"
From afar, the group of men called for Lucca and Minki. It was time for them to leave. Minki's heart was beating furiously in his chest or was it beating at all? His hand reached for his chest. It burned. All of a sudden, he was hot, sweating. His legs were wobbly, his hands shaky. The image of the scar kept on replaying in his mind, as if those two similar characteristics were right in front him. They were identical, a perfect match. Lucca looked at him worried and confused. He wondered if Minki knew something about that wolf.
Truth was, Minki knew that wolf really well. It was a wolf that he looked up to. And hearing Lucca say that, realizing that the scars were identical and, as he joined all the bits of information he knew – he reached the most horrifying truth. That even those that we claim to know, can be in reality just another stranger disguised as a friend.
Lucca put his arm around Minki's shoulders and dragged his companion with him towards their group. Minki nothing said, nothing did. All of his energies were into that one single piece of the puzzle that he had on his hands. The leader of their group was rambling about the plan; Minki didn't listen. Minki didn't listen when the leader explained that they wouldn't be the first group to arrive at the cave. Minki didn't listen when the leader explained how they should trap them in that place until the other group arrived. And Minki didn't listen, when they said the Alpha was coming along – and that he wanted blood in his hands.
‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾
As the groups of wolves marched excitedly towards the cave, Jungkook and Hani slept profoundly. The night was calm and the crickets, the sound of the waterfall and the wind were lullabying the mates into a deep sleep. Wrapped around each other, clutching onto each other's bodies, they slept like they did the previous nights. With calm hearts and dreaming of the future to come. Believing that they were safe, Jungkook let his body and mind relax.
The Alpha still remembered the last nightmare he had. It had been a few days before he met Hani. His mind reminded him of a little boy he had killed during his rampage. It had haunted and stolen his sleep from him. The boy's teary eyes forever engraved in his mind. After Hani came into his life, no more nightmares clouded his head. He used to have so many nightmares in the past, ones worse than others. Surprisingly, it wasn't the killing that he had done that truly frightened the Alpha. It was something much simpler, much human – loss, loneliness. From time to time, the memory of that day would awake him during the night. The nightmare would change a lot, Jungkook had seen so many different versions of it already. Some were simple, they were the exact reenactment of the day his family died. On others, Jungkook ran for the door to get them out and the door wouldn't open. Or he would be with them inside the cabin that was in flames, and he would watch their bodies turn into ashes as they cried and screamed. On the nights that not even the moon goddess had piety for him, his parents would visit him in his sleep and would call him the most hurtful names they could. They'd blame him for everything that happened to them. Having no compassion for the son they left behind.
All those nightmares had hurt him, scarred him. Every time Jungkook had them, the wound that he was so desperately trying to heal, would be ripped open again. To him, every night, he lost everything he ever cared for. Nevertheless, none of those nightmares were like the one he was having now.
When he opened his eyes, Jungkook was in the middle of the woods, surrounded by nothingness and darkness. Only him, existed in that space. Then, he heard a scream, from a voice he loved so much. Immediately, he ran towards it, running so fast that, occasionally, he would stumble on his feet and fall. He would get up and keep on running. His name echoed through that empty space, laced with pain and fear. A cabin was at the end of his path, not just any cabin, the cabin that Jungkook and his parents used to live in. His hand reached for the door knob and he tried to open it. He pulled at it, kicked it, clashed his body against it – the door wouldn't budge. She kept on crying for him, her words mixed with screams of pain. The cabin burst into flames. They lighted up the once dark scenery. Jungkook's legs were wobbly, tears were prickling his eyes. He waved his head side to side, refusing to believe this was happening again. Jungkook looked around the cabin in panic, looking for some way to get her out of there. A single window. He ran towards it and he punched it, but it wouldn't break. His movements stopped when he saw her. She had her hands against the window, she cried, sobbed, screamed. Her eyes were bright red, her lips quivered. Her hand was right under his, just separated by the glass. And no matter how much Jungkook tried, it wouldn't break. Nothing broke besides him. An overwhelming pain took over his heart and he just broke down in front of her. He mumbled her name and told her how sorry he was, that there was nothing that he could do. His hands were burning, the skin red and bruised. Jungkook tried to find more strength in his body, a small spark of hope but he was empty – the only thing filling him was pain. Tears were staining his cheeks; however, a fierce gaze took over his eyes. Jungkook wouldn't go through this again, he wouldn't lose the one chance at happiness that he had been gifted. He wasn't backing down or giving up, he was going to fight for him and his happiness, no matter what. Cleaning up his tears, Jungkook motioned at her to step back from the window. The cabin's walls were starting to crack from the fire and if he didn't hurry, she would be soon under them burning to death. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. His whole body started to burn, he could feel his bones cracking, his muscles ripping. As his body started to shift, a sound disrupted the air. The cabin was no longer there and, instead, nothing remained.
Jungkook awakened violently from his nightmare; he was breathing heavily. The first thing he did was look to see if Hani was still sleeping next to him. His teary eyes softened when he spotted her in bed. Jungkook let the tears fall from his eyes as his heartbeat calmed down. As he slid back into bed, the nightmare that he wanted to forget, suddenly became real. Hurriedly, The Alpha got up from the bed, putting on his clothes as quietly as possible. He peeked through the window.
A group of men were outside, holding torches and they all were heading their way. Quickly, he ran towards his sleeping mate and shook her body, repeatedly calling for her to wake up. When the confused girl opened her eyes, Jungkook started talking to her really fast, his hands shaking as he helped her out of the bed. Hani was about to ask him what was going on, why was his eyes swollen and what did he fear. In the next seconds, the answer she wanted came. The front door opened, allowing a group of men to enter. Each of them craving blood more desperately than the other.
A new nightmare had arrived at Jungkook's door.