Chapter Text
Taeyong stumbled through the knee-high snow in pitch black, a hand weakly held to the wound on his side, a tired attempt to stop the bleeding. He panted, sharp air slicing through his raw lungs and shocking his body, although, not as much as before. His strength was fleeting, and it was all he could do to keep moving, even if each step was unsteady and painful. Tripping on a root, he fell into the fluffy snow, crying out in pain. No strength remained in his body, not anymore. He’d used it to flee. He didn’t even have the energy to fear what might be hiding in the shadows. He curled in on himself, in foetal position, and let his eyes flutter shut as he shivered. The warmth of the blood that flowed over his fingers was the last kind of warmth as the cold overtook him, an odd sort of numbness following in its wake.
He knew he should be scared, that he should be running for his life, but he was just so tired. The thought of sleep was heavenly, that comforting darkness enticing. He couldn’t force himself up anymore, he could force himself to fight any longer. He was finally spent; he was finally done. Such a foreign idea, the fierce Omega of the North, heir apparent to his pack, surrendering to his fate once and for all. The Omega who had fought everything in his path, the Omega who had defied each and every expectation, was giving up. The moon goddess, Lyra, who had whispered to him throughout his life, guided him through every fight, was silent. Taeyong expected she had abandoned him, after all, he had lost. He no longer deserved her graciousness.
A crystal tear trailed down his cheek before he tumbled headfirst into oblivion.
Donghyuck bounded along through the snow extatically, yipping happily as his pack bounded through the fresh, waist high level snow. It has been seasons since they had received such a snowfall, normally only given a couple inches every cold season, yet blessed with a couple feet this time. A tawny wolf bounded along aside him, much bigger and darker than himself. Donghyuck was from the east, a sand wolf, he was called down here in the south, due to his golden coat and skin. The tawny wolf beside him was an Alpha with black accents. Johnny tackled him playfully into the snow, successfully burying Donghyuck in the snow. Just as the young Omega was about to pounce and exact his revenge, he froze. A crimson dot caught his attention and he trotted over to it, ignoring the chaos unfolding behind him as Jaehyun jumped on Johnny and Yuta on Mark, the others watching bemusedly. He tried sniffing it but snow, just like water, had a dulling effect on scents and he couldn’t find the trail, but something was bugging him about the blood.
He lived in the forest, it obviously could be animal blood, or worse, but his hackles rose, and the wind surged around him. His ears pricked and eyes scanned across the covered landscape, training in on another drop of blood not too far from the first, and the another, and another. He followed the trail vehemently, nose down as he walked further into the dense forest. The trail slowly became more noticeable, more blood along the invisible path until there were puddles yet no person. His curiosity was drowned in panic, and he started running with the trail until he found himself in a small clearing, no doubt where wildflowers would’ve grown in the hotter months. And there it was. There was a lump, hidden beneath a fair blanket of snow and Donghyuck raced forward, a curse sitting on his tongue. Lupine speed propelled him forward, paws digging through the snow before he had thought to do so. The first thing he saw under the snow was pale skin, a thin, scarred hand, covered in blood. He shifted back immediately when he confirmed it was, in fact, a person, and he cursed, hands scooping the snow off the man.
“JOHNNY.” He screamed in desperation, slowly uncovering more and more of the stranger, far more blood covering him from head to toe.
Upon his loud screech, birds startled and took to the sky, flapping harder when his pack Alpha howled as a response to his scream and followed his tracks. His pack burst into the clearing by the time Donghyuck had completely uncovered him, quickly finding the wound and trying to stop the dribbling blood. The other men shifted and sprinted over, assessing the stranger immediately.
“I can’t pick up a scent.” Yuta muttered lowly and Taeil leaned over, pressing fingers to the pulse point on his neck.
Donghyuck froze at that. When wolves died, their scent would become completely muted within an hour. The omega gazed down at the stranger’s far too pale face and sadness coursed through him. Was he too late? What had this wolf gone through to bleed out in the snow?
“It’s faint but I have a pulse.” Taeil exclaimed and Jaehyun came forward to scoop the stranger up in a bridal carry, everyone on the move immediately.
They hurried into their settlement, eyes trained with concern on the stranger as he remained unresponsive, even with all the jostling and new scents. Doyoung looked up when they burst into the medical hut, quickly ushering them to place the stranger on one of the benches.
“Who is this guy? What the hell is he covered head to toe in blood?!” Doyoung hissed, tearing the fabric near his wound open and inspecting it.
“Doyoung, we as much as you do.” Johnny chided and watched on with worried eyes, glancing at Donghyuck, “You shouldn’t have run off like that. What if something had happened to you? It’s Harpy season in this part of the woods.”
The young omega didn’t seem to hear him, almost in shock as he watched Doyoung attend to the dying man. Johnny muttered a string of curses under his breath and ran a frustrated hand through his hair, looking back to the healer as he began to speak.
“Well, good news and bad news.” He muttered, tearing the remaining clothes off the man, “Actually no, bad news and worse news. He only has one wound, from which he has lost a lot of blood, and his body is in hypothermic shock. Worse news-“ He moved the stranger so they could see a collection of scars littered over his left hip bone, “-He’s a Northern wolf.”
The air became tense, and Johnny clenched his jaw tightly before exhaling through his nose.
“Clean him up anyway, we can interrogate him when he wakes.”
And their pack Alpha stalked out without another word, Jaehyun and Yuta casting each other concerned looks before following him out. Donghyuck continued to watch Doyoung work, fidgeting with his fingers anxiously.
“Hey, it’s gonna be fine.” Mark soothed from where he stood at his shoulder, a warm hand coming to loop around the omega’s waist, “Doyoung is the best we have, he’ll be fine. Let’s go get you to your mates.”
Donghyuck could gather he was in a sort of shock as he was lead outside and through the campsite, being stuck inside his head made everything around him feel like a haze. How could his morning, a perfect time to enjoy being carefree, result in such a discovery? What had urged him to follow the blood trail? Donghyuck knew that the blood on that man wasn’t just his own. Had Donghyuck just try to save someone who could put their pack in danger? He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer. He was tiny, thin and injured. What harm could he do? Surely no more than a Jackalope?
Mark led him to his hut, knocking on the door and walking in with the distracted Donghyuck. This was surprisingly common, for the omega to get lost in his head so much.
“What happened?” Jeno asked as he opened the door, gently grabbing Donghyuck’s elbow and pulling him inside, “Why are his hands covered in blood?!” Jeno screeched and their other mate rushed into the room.
“Donghyuck’s hurt?!” Renjun gasped, running over and drawing the other omega over to the sink, placing his hands in the basin and pouring water over them to scrub it away.
“Relax, it isn’t his.” Mark replied calmly as he shut the door behind him, “He found someone halfway to death this morning, he stopped the bleeding.”
Jeno’s tense shoulders relaxed but Renjun frowned.
“How could he find someone in this weather?”
The two Alphas shrugged, looking at Donghyuck unsurely.
“The moon Goddess…” Donghyuck trailed off, staring at the pink water in the basin.
“The moon Goddess led you to him?” Mark sounded shocked.
“No, she urged me to follow the blood. I found him; she gave me the motivation.” The omega regained his bearings, turning to look at Mark with a confused tilt of the head, “But why would the moon Goddess want us to find a Northern?”
Mark’s face grew grave and Jeno’s shoulders tensed again.
“He’s a Northern wolf?” He whispered, disgust painting his handsome face.
Renjun looked between the Alphas curiously, but his lips remained sealed.
“I need to speak with Johnny.” Mark muttered and he stormed out of their hut, door clattering shut behind him as he rushed through the snow falling from the sky.
He burst into the pack leader’s den ungracefully, cheeks flushed from the cold. Johnny glanced over to him as he came in before looking back out his window and Yuta and Jaehyun glanced up from where they were sat on the couch, talking quietly between themselves.
“Hyung!” Mark blurted, walking in and shutting the door behind him.
“Yes, Mark?” Johnny sounded tired and the other two Alpha’s small conversation came to a halt when they looked on in curiosity.
“You aren’t going to like this…” The young Alpha muttered as he came over and leaned forward over Johnny’s desk, making Johnny look over his shoulder to watch the younger carefully, “Donghyuck said the moon Goddess urged him to find the Northern.”
Johnny spun around to face him, eyes wide in shock and the two other Alphas stiffened.
“What?” Their leader breathed in confusion.
“He said that while he found the blood, Lyra urged him to follow the trail. Lyra pushed him to save him.”
Johnny clenched his jaw and dragged a hand through his hair aggressively.
“Fuck.” He growled lowly.
Johnny looked back out their window, hiding his anger beneath a mask of diplomatic indifference that scared their pack shitless.
“Did you know the tales of the Northern packs?” He asked rhetorically, hand reaching into the air past the window, catching snowflakes on his palm, watching them melt instantly, “It is said that snow follows the Wolves of the North, their purity so influential the Gods favour them.”
Mark stiffened and looked at Johnny cautiously.
“Why would they be better than any other Wolf?” He asked, feeling oddly betrayed.
“That is the question, isn’t it?” Johnny let the water run off his fingertips as he dropped his hand to the side, “Why would the Gods favour them?”
The room was plunged into an uncomfortable silence and Mark chewed on the inside of his cheek; head tilted to the side in confusion.
“Why are they so hated?” He dared to ask, flinching when Johnny turned to look at him with steely eyes.
“Because there is nothing pure about them, nothing to be favoured.” Johnny replied dangerously, “History has proven that again and again, proven they are no more than lowly traitors. Yet the Gods still chose them, no matter how much the other clans have proven themselves.”
Mark remained silent then, holding Johnny’s eyes and searching them, all emotion buried too deeply for Mark to find.
“I see.” He finished defeatedly, mouth dry.
Johnny opened a draw in his oak desk, pulling out one of his old maps, dismissing Mark. The young wolf bowed as he slipped away, catching the tight smiles Jaehyun and Yuta sent him on the way out.