Chapter Text
The ritual takes place just before midnight. The moon shines full and bright overhead, its light joined by the torches held by betas standing around the perimeter of the camp’s center. A warm glow bathes the faces of the pack as they stand and watch, some anticipatory, some pleased, others still uncaring. Jimin looks nervous. Jungkook has caught him wiping sweaty palms on his trousers more than once.
Jungkook, who is so used to being alone, finds the discomfort of lying prone on a wooden table at the center of the entire pack far worse than the discomfort of the chisel. Miyoung, the omega artist of the Yoo pack, leans over his chest as she drives the chisel into his skin with careful precision. She’s quick about it, tapping the end repetitively, driving the ink underneath his skin. It hurts, of course. It’s incredibly painful. But Jungkook is no stranger to pain. Pain is only in the mind, and Jungkook has learned over the years that half of it is in your breath, too. If he focuses on his breathing, blocks out the instinct of his brain, then the pain does not exist.
“Lean in,” Miyoung instructs, voice low, and the beta standing at Jungkook’s head comes closer with his torch.
It is something he remembers only vaguely from his childhood, but the Yoo clan places great importance on tattoos as a rite of passage. As the new pack alpha, Jungkook’s tattoo must be given with the entire pack as witness. It’ll be right over his heart, above his nipple, but he does not know what the art will contain. No one but Miyoung does. By tradition, the artist spends the night before the ritual in an enclosed tent surrounded by strong incense, the kind that goes to your head. During her time there, the moon goddess grants her a vision of what the mark will be. The rest of the pack and Jungkook himself will only know after she’s completed it.
Iseul had told him Ilsung’s tattoo had been of a wolf crushing a human skull in its jaw.
“We will be done before long,” Miyoung informs him quietly, and he nods. It’s been long enough already, hours, though he can’t say how many.
Jungkook lets his head fall to the side, seeking Jimin out in the crowd. He’s standing at the front by Iseul’s side, and she’s holding his hand in comfort. His pretty pink mouth is curled in a frown, brows tense. Jungkook wants to smooth the creases out with his thumb. Wants to kiss the frown away. As soon as Jimin registers his gaze, a red flush spreads across his face, disappearing down the neckline of his shirt. Jungkook wonders how far it goes. He can see Jimin’s Adam’s apple bob when he swallows. He only manages to hold his gaze for a moment before he drops his head, dark hair shielding his face from sight.
The corner of Jungkook’s mouth lifts up. He shifts his head back to look at the stars, giving poor Jimin a break, and focuses on his breathing once more. At long last, Miyoung sets her tools down and dabs at the lines of blood on his chest. Then she stands.
“It is complete,” she announces, and Jungkook sits up.
He swings his legs off the table and stands. His injuries from the fight with Ilsung aren’t all healed; he walks with a limp, one he fears might be permanent, and his ribs and chest are always aching. But in front of the pack, Jungkook stands tall and unwavering, jaw set tight. He may have been born in this pack, but to them he is an outsider. He can never show any weakness.
Jimin’s staring at the tattoo, his eyes wide and lips parted. He looks shocked, and Jungkook can only hope it’s not in the bad way. There are tears in Iseul’s eyes. Two betas bring forward a bucket of water. They set it on the ground, and the beta holding the torch comes closer. Jungkook kneels, leaning over the bucket so he can see his reflection in the water, and feels his eyes widen, too.
It’s a constellation - the Triplet Stars, one of the easiest to spot in the night sky. Instead of stars, Miyoung has inked cherry blossoms. It’s beautiful. Before his alpha mother had died, before they had been banished from the pack, she had taught them of the Triplet Stars. If you follow them , she’d told them, you’ll always find your way back to the pack . He has forgotten much of his old life, but Jungkook has never forgotten her words. Even now, he seeks out the triplets in the night sky.
Swallowing past his dry throat, he stands, hiding his wince as his body aches with the effort it takes to stand. Miyoung brings him a shirt that he shrugs on, the untied neckline wide and loose enough that it leaves the tattoo almost entirely visible. It keeps the fabric from chafing against the fresh mark.
“It is done,” Jungkook says. “And now we feast.”
The crowd breaks into excited chatter, heading over to the steaming pots of food laid out to the side. Iseul pulls away from Jimin to approach Jungkook, her eyes wet and her smile bright. She takes his face between her hands, pressing their foreheads together, and Jungkook breathes in her warm scent. Since Ilsung’s death, it has begun to grow less muddled, less faded. She smells more like the mother Jungkook remembers.
“Triplet Stars,” she whispers. “It holds great meaning for the Yoo pack. You were meant to lead us.”
It feels a heavy burden to bear. Jungkook had never wanted to be a leader. It feels like every step of the way, he has stumbled into his roles by accident - First Rank, now Pack Alpha. He had only wanted Jimin, not all of this. But the Yoo pack doesn’t take kindly to abdication. He must take on the role whether he wants to or not.
Iseul leaves him with a final smile, heading over to the food. Jungkook seeks out Jimin, avoiding a few pack members who stop to chat with them on the way. Jimin’s waiting, lingering behind the others, wringing his small hands together. Jungkook stops right before him and catches the way Jimin breathes him in, pretty flush creeping up his neck once more.
“Did it hurt terribly?” he asks quietly, eyes fixed on the tattoo.
“Were you worried?” Jungkook counters, gaze flickering over Jimin’s face. He doesn’t need to ask. He can read the answer there.
“Of course I was,” Jimin huffs. “She was driving a needle into your skin! And so many times. I thought it would never end.”
A slow grin spreads across Jungkook’s face. He feels pleased at Jimin’s admission. “It was nothing I couldn’t handle.”
Jimin toes his boots into the ground, petulant little pout on his face. “You’re only saying that.”
Jungkook takes a step closer. Their toes are nearly touching, Jimin’s small brown boots against Jungkook’s bigger tan ones. Jimin smells so sweet, strong vanilla and soft amber, that Jungkook just wants to bury his face in his neck and breathe him in forever.
“How many times must I tell you?” he murmurs. “You do not need to worry about me. I can handle myself.”
Jimin looks back down, shy. “I will keep worrying.”
Jungkook reaches out and ruffles Jimin’s hair, mussing it over his forehead. Jimin scrunches up his face, and he smiles. “Sit down. I will fetch us food.”
He isn’t hungry, but he wants Jimin to eat well. He knows he must be tired after standing and watching the ritual for so long. Someone hands him a plate and then an extra when he asks, and he fills them both with meat and vegetables. The omega ladling out the meat gives him a prime cut, one she’s been saving for him as pack alpha, but when he turns away, he moves it from his plate into Jimin’s.
Jimin is sitting in the grass, legs crossed, when Jungkook finds him again. He eyes the fuller plate with distrust. “I hope that’s not for me,” Jimin warns, but of course, Jungkook places the overflowing plate in his lap. “I can’t eat this much.”
“Of course you can.”
Jimin sighs and begins to eat, and only after Jungkook sees him take a bite of the meat does he turn to his own plate. When he raises the spoon to his mouth, his shoulder aches and his tattoo stings. He flinches, then schools his face before Jimin can catch it. When he looks up, Jimin’s gaze is fixed on the tattoo again.
“Do you like it?” Jungkook asks quietly.
“It’s more important that you like it,” he murmurs.
Jungkook tilts his head in acknowledgement. “Still.”
Jimin looks down at the ground, chewing on his lip. “Do you - do you believe in conception dreams in the Yoo pack?”
Jungkook considers. He had heard of another alpha speaking of his father’s conception dream once, when he was in the rogue encampment long ago. “I don’t remember. You’ll have to ask my mother.”
“My mother had a conception dream for me,” Jimin says softly. His eyes flicker back up to meet Jungkook’s. “There were cherry blossoms.”
Jungkook blinks as it dawns upon him. Triplet Stars for his alpha mother’s guidance; Triplet Stars for the Yoo Pack; cherry blossoms for Jimin. His heart quickens in his chest.
“The dreams are very important in my pack,” Jimin goes on. “The symbols follow you forever. If I’d mated, my mate would have traveled to bring me cherry blossoms.”
“Did I not say,” Jungkook starts, his voice low and intense in a way that makes Jimin shy away from meeting his gaze, “that this was meant to be?”
Jimin gives a jerky nod in response. His cheeks are beginning to color again - he parts his lips, like he's ready to speak, but then they're being interrupted.
"Alpha Jungkook."
It's Elder Lee, leaning heavily on his beaded walking stick. Jungkook is still learning his way around who to trust in his new pack, but so far, Elder Lee seems to be one of the few. His hatred for Ilsung had been palpable. He gestures toward the fire, where there seems to be an altercation - a Choi pack beta and one of the Yoo alphas. Jungkook tenses.
"There is a dispute," Elder Lee says, his voice a low rasp. "Will you settle it, Alpha?"
Jungkook resists the urge to sigh. He glances at Jimin, who gives him an encouraging little nod. Setting his plate in the grass, he stands and brushes off his pants, heading toward the gathering crowd with long strides. Anyone who's stopped to watch steps aside immediately at the sight of him, giving him way. The Choi beta is Seokjin, a man Jimin seems to get along well with. And the Yoo alpha is none other than Chaeyoung. He shouldn't be surprised. It seems like every time there's an altercation, his sister is right in the middle of it.
"Why are the celebrations being disrupted?" Jungkook demands, stopping before them. They're glaring at each other, a plate of food on the ground between them.
"I left my food here," Chaeyoung spits, "and come back to the meat stolen right off my plate and into his. I had a good cut, a cut fit for an alpha. I'm not letting a damn beta lay his hands on it."
It isn't even that great a cut of meat. Jungkook looks over at Seokjin, who is ready with his own response. "Never thought I'd meet an alpha so dumb she couldn't tell the difference between two cuts of meat. I picked mine out myself. Why would I want your paltry share?"
Chaeyoung growls, taking a step forward and snapping her teeth at him. Jungkook knows exactly how he would solve this if he were still a rogue - he'd let them fight for it, of course. Even now, that solution makes the most sense to him. Winner gets to eat. But he's beginning to understand that packs don't quite work that way. Fighting is a last resort, not the only solution.
"Enough," Jungkook says firmly. He picks up the plate of food and glances around until he spots one of the pups. It's his littlest brother, Chanwoo, the runt of the family. Jungkook thinks he's going to grow up to be an alpha. A very small one, like Yoongi, with an attitude twice as bold to match. "Come here, pup."
Chanwoo breaks away from Iseul and runs to meet him. Jungkook hands him the plate of food, and he stares at him with wide eyes. "For me?"
"Eat your fill."
Chanwoo brightens, spinning on his heel and running away like he thinks Jungkook will change his mind if he lingers. When he turns back to Seokjin and Chaeyoung, they're both seething.
"We don't fight over food," Jungkook tells them. "No use being part of a pack if we're still fighting over food. And if you can't keep track of your own share, then you don't deserve it."
He walks away before either of them can start to argue. The small crowd disperses, perhaps disappointed that they didn't get to see a bigger fight. Everyone seems to be itching for a fight these days. The pack merger has been wearing on everyone's nerves - Jungkook's most of all. Lingering a few feet away, Elder Lee gives him a look of approval before he, too, turns away from the fire.
By the time he makes his way back to Jimin, accosted by someone every few steps, Jimin has been joined by a handful of other omegas - his friend Taehyung, his cousin Sana, and one of the younger girls from the Yoo pack. Jungkook feels bad disturbing them. They're laughing together. He approaches only to pick up his plate, noting the way they all fall silent as soon as he's within earshot. He gives them all a nod and backs away, gaze flickering to Jimin, who's looking back. Like before, Jimin's eyes flicker down to his tattoo, as if drawn to it unbidden. Then he looks away, pink high on his cheeks.
Jungkook turns away and searches for somewhere to sit and finish his food in peace.
His mother beckons to him and he joins her on a pile of cushions where she sits with Chanwoo and her youngest daughter, Dahyun. They both perk up at the sight of him, crowding around him when he sits down. For reasons unfathomable to him, his three youngest siblings are quite taken with him.
"Where's Minki?" he asks, and Iseul smiles.
"Causing trouble somewhere, no doubt."
"He's trying to steal sweets from the big pot," Dahyun whispers to Jungkook, though her whisper is barely lower than her speaking voice.
Jungkook hums knowingly. "He should be careful. I heard Elder Kim has her eyes on any pups who try to get at that pot. She has a punishment in mind already, something about paddock duty?"
Dahyun's eyes widen comically. "I have to warn him!" She leaps to her feet and runs off in search of her brother, leaving Iseul in laughter. She seems to laugh easier lately. She hadn't done much of that when they first met.
"You did that on purpose," Chanwoo accuses, ever the astute one. "You tricked her."
"Troublemaking pups need to be taught a lesson," Jungkook says easily, and Chanwoo postures before Jungkook, ready for a fight.
Jungkook sets his food aside, and as soon as he does, Chanwoo pounces on him, wrestling him to the ground. Jungkook has had little opportunity to play with pups over the years, but he understands the art of it quite instinctually. Play around with them, but take it seriously enough that they learn a thing or two. He flips Chanwoo over, getting him in a headlock, careful to keep him away from the healing tattoo, and Chanwoo wriggles and squirms, clawing at his arm. He growls, a little, cute noise, threatening though he thinks it is. When it's obvious he can't get out of Jungkook's hold, he loosens it, letting Chanwoo push him onto his back and try to hold his arms in place.
"Watch out for his legs," Iseul warns Chanwoo, just before Jungkook pushes him up and tosses him into the air a few times. Chanwoo shrieks, dissolving into giggles, and Jungkook sets him down with a satisfied grin.
"I'm going to tell her you lied!" Chanwoo threatens, before he sticks his tongue out and runs off to do just that.
Jungkook picks his food back up, finding the smile slow to fade from his face. He glances over at Jimin where he sits with his friends out of habit and realizes Jimin is watching him. His eyes are locked on him, hazy and unblinking, and Jungkook feels himself begin to preen. He can only guess what Jimin is thinking of, seeing Jungkook play with a pup.
As soon as he comes to his senses and realizes Jungkook's looking back, Jimin snaps his head away with an embarrassed blush. Jungkook can't help but feel smug.
"Do you believe in conception dreams in the Yoo pack?" Jungkook asks.
Iseul looks at him thoughtfully, then follows his gaze to Jimin. "Does this have something to do with your omega?"
Jungkook finds himself flushing, though his wolf preens at her words. Jimin isn't his - not yet. "His mother dreamt of cherry blossoms."
Iseul's eyebrows raise, and she looks at his tattoo. "I see."
They're quiet, and Jungkook finds it difficult to look away from Jimin. Every time he sees him, he's struck again by how lovely he is. The sweet roundness of his cheeks, the attractive curve of his lips. The way he carries himself. How he switches from sweet to coy.
"If you want, I can show you how to make him a pair of earrings like mine," Iseul offers softly. "It's a Yoo Clan tradition."
Jungkook tears his gaze away from Jimin to look at her. She has worn her long, painted earrings every day for as long as he has seen her. "I don't know if he has ever worn earrings before."
"That can be easily remedied."
He likes the thought of Jimin wearing earrings, the painted copper framed against the smooth skin of his neck. Right now he's weaving him a blanket; it sits half-finished in his tent, made of rabbit fur. The cold has begun to ebb, and soon it will give way to spring. But Jungkook wants to build Jimin's stores up for the next winter, so that when the time comes, he has a chest full of furs.
"Did he give those to you?" Jungkook asks, unable to keep the edge from his voice.
Iseul nods. "As I said. It is tradition."
He may be dead, but Ilsung's presence lingers heavily in the pack. Some days he feels like he will never escape the ghost of his predecessor. And now the earrings - yet another reminder. "Why do you still wear them?"
His mother looks away, a bitter set to her mouth. "It is difficult to explain. I don't know if you could ever understand."
Still, Jungkook waits.
"I bore him five pups," she eventually says, her gaze far away. "And anyway, it would be expected of me to wear them. They are a sign of my rank, too. I was the Pack Omega."
She's right - Jungkook doesn't understand. He can't fathom why she would continue to wear the gift of a man who had destroyed her family and spent over a decade abusing her. But he follows her gaze to Dahyun and Minki, who are playing by the fire. They bear Ilsung's blood, along with the other three, and that will always be true.
He doesn't understand, but he supposes he doesn't need to. Only she does.
"After I finish the blanket," Jungkook ventures, "I would like to learn how to make earrings."
His mother looks over at him and smiles, some of the distance fading from her eyes. "I will teach you," she promises.
⚘
On the first day of spring, Jungkook holds a trial.
It will be the first of many, and it will be part of a task so monumental that Jungkook wonders how he will be able to complete it. But he knows it must be done. During Ilsung's time, a great many wrongs had been committed on the wolves of the Yoo Clan. Ilsung was not the only purveyor of cruelty, and the rest of them remain. They've been keeping their heads down, adjusting to new leadership, but Jungkook knows they will rear their heads again. And in the meantime, the evidence of their cruelty is everywhere. The forced matings. The frightened omegas and bruised pups.
Wolves from both the Yoo and Choi packs had spoken to him about the necessity of convening a council, that they may begin holding trials for Ilsung's biggest supporters. Seungcheol had brought to him the same sentiment.
"No one can challenge your leadership for one year," he had said. "The time to begin weeding out the threats is now."
It had taken time to put everything together. Under Ilsung's leadership, the Yoo Clan's original council of elders had been dissolved - he made the decisions alone. Fear had made his rein a very different one than the pack had been used to before - Elder Lee has been telling Jungkook stories about what their pack was like before he became the Alpha. The Yoo Clan has always been aggressive, prone to violence, but Ilsung had taken them down a dark path.
But it was a path that couldn't sustain itself. Members of the pack began to run away. He let his alphas hunt too often and too freely, diminishing the prey in their lands. The pack suffered from a lack of food, and under the malnutrition and the abuse, many omegas continued to miscarry. Their numbers were falling. In the end, they had attacked the Choi pack out of desperation. They needed wolves to work and bear pups, and they needed land with more prey.
The attack has weakened the Choi pack, too, and now neither of them can survive without the other. Jungkook had been quick to use their desperation against them in the early days of his leadership, when fights between the two packs were common. If they wanted to survive, they would have to merge - that was the bottom line. In the end, they had seen the truth of his words, and now they have begun a very reluctant merger of the two packs.
Jungkook had decided to form a council of elders from both packs, choosing those with the most years out of respect. Most of the Choi pack elders had been killed; Ilsung hadn’t kept any wolves he didn’t find useful. Instead, the Choi pack sent forth respected members of the pack, like Yoongi’s mother, the head hunter, their shaman, and Seungcheol, among others.
Then he had utilized the help of his mother and others he could trust to ask those who had been wronged to come forward and name their accusers.
Convincing anyone to speak up was hard enough. Most of them feared retaliation. It had taken a month just to find one omega willing to tell him the truth about his mating - that he had been courted by an alpha he had almost promised himself to until Kitae had cornered him one night and forced their mating. Ilsung had turned a blind eye to it - Kitae was one of his closest supporters. Iseul says he was his right-hand man.
It's Kitae who is on trial today. The omega, Dowon, is in the omega tent, where he will be guarded all day and night until Kitae's punishment has been delivered. He hadn't wanted to be there for the trial. He had written his account down instead, to be read by Iseul.
Jungkook had expected to feel nervous, but when he sits among the council facing Kitae as he kneels in the grass, he finds that he feels only a grim satisfaction. Aside from what he has done to Dowon, Kitae has been a constant threat to Jungkook. He opposes him at every corner. Jungkook has already fought him once, after Kitae called him a pup when he had convened the alphas to organize a hunt. The others had let it go on until the first drop of blood was spilled - Kitae's - and then they had been stopped.
"The Pack convenes to discuss the fate of Oh Kitae, who has been accused of forcing Lim Dowon into a mating." Elder Kim’s voice rings throughout the camp.
"Where is he?" Kitae growls, his entire body taut with anger. His hands are clenched into fists. "Isn't he here to accuse me himself?"
"You will speak when spoken to," Jungkook says coolly, and nods to Elder Kim to continue.
She clears her throat. "Former Pack Omega Iseul will read Dowon's account."
Iseul steps forward, holding the parchment where Dowon had written his account. She begins to read, her voice calm and steady. Dowon's words are difficult to listen to. He describes the past years of his life in detail. Jungkook listens to it with growing fury - he feels it boiling his blood, seeing red as he stares at Kitae. Like Ilsung, Kitae is evil. Jungkook understands this.
When Iseul finishes, Elder Kim says, "We offer this time for any other wolves to come forward with accusations against Oh Kitae."
They wait in silence. Kitae glares at the crowd, and no one moves. Then, to Jungkook's surprise, a young beta steps forward. Her hands are very clearly trembling.
"I have an accusation." Her voice shakes, too.
Kitae rises briefly off his haunches, as if he's going to pounce, and she takes a frightened step backwards.
"Oh Kitae," Jungkook barks, rising to his feet. "Should I put you in chains?"
Kitae lowers himself, snarling.
"Speak, pup," Elder Kim says.
The beta glances toward the crowd. "It's no secret, but Alpha Kitae has been taking our share of food. It's only my father and me. We don't have much to begin with, but he takes our share of meat. He says - he says if we don't give it to him, he'll break my father's bones and leave him in the woods for the vultures. So we give it to him."
"How long has he been taking your meat?"
"A year now."
Elder Kim nods. "If that is all, we leave room for more accusations. Come forward now."
The young beta seems to have broken the dam. After that, there are countless accusations against him. She isn't the only one who's had her share of meat stolen. Others tell tales of threats and violence, cheating and the thievery. Nearly half the pack comes forward with an accusation. It makes sense; if Kitae really was Ilsung's right-hand man, he would have done quite a bit of his dirty work, too.
When the accusations end, Kitae is seething. Elder Kim invites him to defend himself, and he does so with rage bleeding from his voice.
"I did what I did under the Pack Alpha's leadership," Kitae spits. "None of you would have dared cross him then. You think to come for me now that this weak little pup stands behind you?"
Jungkook's anger flares, but he forces it down. "Do you admit to what you have done?"
"I did nothing wrong."
Jungkook looks to Elder Kim, whose lined face shows no reaction. "The council will convene to discuss Oh Kitae's fate. We will return with our decision by sunset."
"For now, Alphas Yoongi and Seungcheol will watch Kitae," Jungkook orders, and the two of them break from the crowd to lead Kitae away. He spits on the ground before he leaves, glaring at Jungkook.
The rest of the pack disperses, and Jungkook breathes through his nose, forcing his rage down. The elders gather closer to each other, and he joins them, helping Elder Lee take a seat.
"He will have to die," Elder Lee says calmly, and the rest of them are nodding.
"Banishment is not a good punishment for a man like Kitae," Elder Man agrees. "We will be at risk as long as he is out there. A man like that will come back for revenge. There is no doubt about that."
"And that poor omega will be the first one he comes for," Elder Nam says. "Yes, he will have to die."
Jungkook calls a vote, and only two elders do not vote in favor of an execution. The rest are in agreement, and it's decided.
"How will it be done?" Elder Lee asks. "Alpha Jungkook?"
Jungkook clears his throat, wiping his palms on his pants. He has to do it. He is the one who set this in motion, and he must see it to the end. Handing the punishment off to someone else to administer would be a cowardly thing to do. The pack needs to know he takes responsibility for his choices.
"I will do it. Beheading would be fastest."
Elder Lee's eyes crinkle, his sign of approval. "Your predecessor had a small collection of weapons. I will have someone sharpen a sword for you."
Jungkook nods.
"Do it tonight," Elder Kim suggests. "Do not let the matter drag on. Be done with it."
"I will do it tonight," he promises, and the council disperses.
He waits for night to fall with an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach. Jungkook has killed many wolves in his lifetime. If he tried to count, he imagines he wouldn't be able to. But he has always killed out of necessity. Once he became the number one, they came after him like flies. If he didn't defend himself, he would be dead. He's never done anything like this: premeditated, planned. An execution.
Kitae deserves it. Jungkook doesn't question the merit of their decision. It's his role in it that he questions. It's the position he has been thrust into, where he bears responsibility for so many when he has only ever born responsibility for himself.
As the sun begins to set, the pack reconvenes for the verdict. Kitae is brought back; he holds his head high, arrogant to the end. Elder Yang is the one who makes the announcement. It's met with shock and, in some cases, anger. Some of Ilsung's close ones protest; one of them draws close enough that Yoongi and Seungcheol begin to posture in response, growling at him as he nears Kitae. Jungkook has to call for an end to it.
"The council's decisions are final," he says. "If you do not like my leadership, in six months you may fight me for it. But for now, we have made our decision."
Kitae himself doesn't protest. They bring out a block and Yoongi forces his head down. When Jungkook takes the sword and steps toward him, Kitae glares up at him with dark eyes.
"You'll regret this," he promises.
Jungkook raises the sword. He knows it will take a hard, clean cut for the head to come clean. His body is barely up to the task, his shoulder and arm still weak from his injuries. But he raises the sword high and brings it down with all his strength for one sharp cut. Kitae's head rolls away, and it's done.
Iseul orders a group to help her take the body and head into the woods, where they will bury him in the pack's graveyard. The pack and council break apart, and Jungkook speaks to Alpha Yongguk briefly about beginning preparations for a hunt tomorrow before he's freed from his duties for the night. His shoulder is already hurting, sending a shooting pain through his torso. His mind feels curiously blank.
"Alpha Jungkook," says a quiet voice, one he would recognize anywhere. He turns, Jimin's sweet scent hitting his nose - he breathes it in, feeling his heart settle.
"Yes?" Jungkook grows abruptly aware of the fact that he has Kitae's blood on him. But Jimin is gazing up at him earnestly, like he hasn't even noticed.
"I would like to make a recommendation. If - if that's okay."
"Of course. You don't have to ask."
Jimin nods, stepping closer. Vanilla and amber fill Jungkook's lungs, and his head swims. "I think Omega Dowon should be guarded even now," he says quietly. "I fear the retaliation will come from someone loyal to Kitae."
"I was planning it," Jungkook agrees. "Do you have someone specific in mind who might be a threat?"
"The usual ones," Jimin says wryly, and Jungkook sighs. There are a handful of alphas and betas who have been a consistent threat to him since the beginning. Ilsung's cronies.
"I'll keep a guard on Dowon. You don't need to worry."
"Thank you," Jimin murmurs. Jungkook catches a flash of concern in his eyes. "You should rest now."
"I will rest," Jungkook promises, but his mind is already working a mile a minute - which guards he can trust for Dowon, how else to ensure his safety, whether he should consider keeping eyes on the threats, too. He doesn't have enough wolves he trusts for all that.
Jimin's still standing there, watching him. Jungkook knows he smells like blood, and Jimin's scent is so clear and sweet. He doesn't want to sully it. He steps back, giving Jimin a nod.
"Goodnight, Jimin," he murmurs before turning away and heading to his tent.
⚘
Even after months in the pack, Jungkook finds it difficult to adjust to the sights and scents of other wolves. He's so used to being alone. He had never stayed in the rogue encampment for more than a few days, and his visit with Jimin was one of the very few where he stayed in the main camp. Usually he had made his own camp on the outskirts of it, where he could barely smell or hear the others anymore. He finds himself seeking out privacy often, though he hardly has time for it. Everyone always needs him for something.
So at night, he likes to go to the river, where he has a brief respite from the scent of his new pack. The night of the execution, he leaves when the moon is high in the sky, settling by the water so he can remove his shirt and tend to his injuries. He mixes a salve for his shoulder, rubbing it into the sore, tender muscles. It hurts to touch.
He smells Jimin before he sees him - warm vanilla and amber - and his head snaps around to look. Jimin's stepping carefully through the woods, holding a mortar and pestle. The sight of him has his wolf rumbling in contentment before it snaps into a frenzy of worry - his omega is here in the woods at night, alone, unsafe.
"What are you doing?" Jungkook finds himself snapping. "You can't leave camp alone, anyone could have followed you - it isn't safe yet - "
Jimin waits until he's done. Then he sits down next to him, reaching down to cup water in his hands and pour it into the mortar. "I told Taehyung where I was going. He kept an eye out for me."
Jungkook forces his wolf down, gritting his teeth until he begins to relax again, shoulders falling. "It isn't safe," he repeats, quieter this time.
Jimin's mixing a paste with his pestle. "It's only a short walk. I brought this to mix with the salve you usually use. Can I?"
Jungkook nods without thinking. Jimin scoops the paste onto his fingers and leans in until he's a hair's breadth from Jungkook. Then he starts to massage it gently into his shoulder, his fingers cool on Jungkook's skin. He works it into the side of his neck, moving in slow circles, and Jungkook's insides clench tight. His lungs fill with Jimin's scent until he's dizzy, staring at him through hazy eyes. Jimin's lips are pursed in concentration, his brows furrowed, and Jungkook wants to press his lips to the crease of his forehead.
"I thought it would be hurting after today," Jimin murmurs. "My uncle said to use both salves together for potency. I'll make a batch for you to keep tomorrow."
Jungkook hums to show he's listening, his gaze tracing down the smooth length of Jimin's neck. The skin there is soft and pretty and he wants to mark it.
Jimin finishes applying the salve and moves away to clean his hands. Jungkook misses his scent, the heat of his body and the press of his fingers. He can feel his wolf whining inside him. He tries to keep it in check. Wonders if he's worthy of Jimin's attention tonight, when today he had killed a man. A defenseless one.
Jimin settles back, leaning on his hands, and stares out at the river. Jungkook tears his gaze away from him, but in the end it's drawn back, and he gives in and stares. "He didn't include it in his account because he was scared, but Omega Dowon is with pup."
Jungkook blinks, coming to his senses. "He's pregnant?"
"If it comes to term, it'll be his first child." Jimin meets Jungkook's eyes, and his own are soft and serious. "He miscarried the first two times, that's why he doesn't have any. The first time Kitae pushed him to the ground and he lost it. Nearly died, too. The second time Kitae beat him because he had asked the healer for medicine to help with his morning sickness. He didn't touch his belly, but the stress did it, so he lost that one, too."
Jungkook looks away. He understands what Jimin is doing.
"Kitae would have come back for him. There isn't a fiber of my being that believes otherwise," Jimin says. "He had to die."
"Yes," Jungkook murmurs. "He did. I know it."
"Dowon wants the child. He didn't want them before. But now that he's free, he wants his child. He thinks he can raise them to have a good life."
"I am glad for him." Jungkook looks at his hands, rough and worn. It had to be done. But he's never killed anyone defenseless before. It's a strange feeling - a hollow one.
"After today, I think more will be brave enough to come forward."
Jungkook nods. "If they aren't, I will go after the ones who hurt your pack next. We don't need witnesses for them."
When the Yoo Clan had taken over Jimin's pack, Ilsung had offered the unmated omegas up to his unmated alphas and betas. A number of them had been forced into matings. Those are obvious enough victims - there are no other matings between any Yoo Clan and Choi Pack wolves. Jungkook thinks that might be beginning to change, though, now that the packs are mingling. Some of the younger wolves have eyes for each other.
Jimin has shifted toward him - he's staring at his tattoo again. It isn't visible most of the time, but without his shirt on, it's in plain sight. Jimin's gaze drags along the constellation like a touch. His hand twitches, lifting slightly, like he really wants to touch - then he drops it.
The corner of Jungkook's mouth lifts in amusement. "You can touch," he says, then snaps his teeth playfully. "I won't bite."
Jimin's cheeks flame red, his lips pursing in embarrassment. His eyes flash up to Jungkook's and back down again. But then he raises his hand and reaches out - the light, tentative touch has a shiver running up Jungkook's spine. Jimin traces along the outline of the tattoo, never more than a brush of his fingertips. Jungkook's skin grows hot, fingers digging into the soil as he restrains himself. It would be so easy to push Jimin onto his back and take him - he knows Jimin would let him, too. Let him press his mouth to the hollow at the base of his throat, let him drag his hands over his bare skin. Sometimes Jungkook wants him so badly he feels like he's going mad with it.
But he won't do it, not yet. He wants to take it slow. Wants Jimin to be sure he wants a life bound to someone like Jungkook when he could have anyone else. He's seen the way the other alphas' gazes follow Jimin around camp. He could have his pick of them if he wanted.
Jimin pulls his hand back, and Jungkook's both relieved and regretful.
"Pretty," Jimin mumbles.
"I'll have to find you cherry blossoms," Jungkook considers. "As soon as I can leave the pack to travel."
"It's spring. You don't have long."
"I'll manage."
"Don't be ridiculous," Jimin mutters, but Jungkook can see how pleased it makes him, how his flush sits high on his cheeks even now. He can't help it - he reaches out, brushing the back of his knuckles along the curve of his cheek before he pulls back. Jimin casts his gaze down, biting his lip. "Sorry. I know you come here to get away from everything, and I just followed you - "
"I don't come to get away from you."
"Still."
"I'm glad you came," he says honestly. "Though next time, tell me, and we can come together. I don't want you in the woods alone at night."
Jimin looks like he's going to protest.
"Just for now," Jungkook entreats. "I have a lot of enemies. There isn't much they can do to me before the year is up, but they all know about you."
Jimin finally nods. "I understand."
Jungkook sighs, pushing himself onto his feet with some difficulty. His leg hasn't healed as well as he would like it to, and standing after a long time seated has become hard. He holds his hand out to Jimin, who takes it and lets him pull him up. "It's late. We should sleep."
"Tomorrow is another day," Jimin agrees. He gathers his things and follows Jungkook back into the woods.
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