Chapter Text
The scent of rain is heavy in the air, the ground spongy beneath Jisung’s feet from the downpour last night. Felix chases a butterfly in his wolf skin off to the side of the well-worn path. A jaunty melody slips past his lips, a bounce in his step despite the poor weather the night before. Today the sun is bright; he has high hopes that the meadow they normally picnic at has dried. Bunny Meadow, as the pack calls it, has many burrows. The flowers in the clearing grow abundantly and provide easy food for the rabbits.
The pack doesn’t hunt there, so that the animals will be comfortable enough to stay. It helps them judge how much food they’ll have for winter. Today they’re checking to see how far the river rose in the night. Hyunjin will likely whine all winter if they have to eat squirrels again– not that Jisung cares much for squirrel stew either. They were both raised in the city where the animal is considered a rodent. It feels strange to eat the creature despite not being able to taste a difference.
In front of him, Felix stumbles over paws as he seems to change his mind mid-pounce. The butterfly he’d been playfully trying to catch disappears further into the woods. The wolf is no longer tracking it; instead, his head is tilted, sniffing the air. Jisung’s about to ask when he catches the scent– sticky sweet orange on the breeze, so out of place in the forest. Felix spares him a single glance before bounding off.
“Wait!”
Jisung hastens his steps, trying to keep up. It’s useless; he loses sight of the white and grey wolf in an instant. The scent is easy enough to follow. Dread settles low in his gut; there’s not another home for miles. No one should be this close to their cabin.
The closer he gets, the thicker the scent becomes, until each breath tastes like candied oranges. His mouth waters, reminded of summer festivals in the city. Too syrupy sweet—his steps falter, the scent isn’t only out of place, it’s unnatural. He glances back the way they came; toward the cabin and the rest of their mates. Felix ran ahead and Jisung can’t leave him. Running, he sets off faster than before to catch up with his mate.
The sound of the river greets him as he breaks through the trees into the meadow. Mud stretches from the water's edge. The vegetation cleared back several feet due to last night's storm. Felix, shifted, kneels stark naked next to another man– an omega. His breath catches in his throat. A choked sound escapes him. Despite the fresh scent in the air, that man must be dead.
A howl rips from Felix, a call for the rest of their pack. It knocks Jisung from his frozen panic. Two answering howls reverberate through the woods within seconds.
“I’m going to shift back,” Felix rushes, “I need you to place him on my back.”
He doesn’t want to touch the dead man, can’t fathom why Felix would want to carry a corpse on his back. A mixture of blood and mud covers every inch of the man; still, Jisung can see where the skin has been torn open, gaping wounds.
“Jisung, please, we have to get him to Hyunjin before it’s too late!”
“He’s alive?” The words squeak out sounding silly to his own ears.
Pacing in a tight circle beside the alive omega, Felix whines. The man’s heavier than Jisung expected, dense with muscle. “Oh, gods. Sorry. Sorry.” Jisung babbles while his hands glide over the slick skin, almost losing his grip on the man before securing him. Felix’s quick trot leaves Jisung unable to catch his breath and struggling to keep pace.
Jeongin greets them halfway home, paws kicking up wet earth. He circles them, then takes off back home, a blur of chocolate brown.
The whole pack waits as they emerge from the trees. Their cabin stands proudly in a small clearing.
“Gods, is he dead?” Seungmin questions as he moves closer.
“Felix doesn’t think so,” but Jisung still isn’t sure. The omega’s skin had been burning hot to the touch, but he still couldn’t believe it.
"Let's get him inside,” Chris states, lifting the man without hesitation or struggle.
Seungmin scrabbles to clear the kitchen table. Jisung wonders if he’ll ever be able to eat there again without picturing blood. For an uncomfortable moment, Hyunjin’s hands flutter above the injured man, like the healer doesn’t know what to do. From school to the hospital to the village clinic, Hyunjin has worked steadfast and sure– Jisung’s never seen him hesitate.
“What do you need?” Changbin asks, hand squeezing Hyunjin’s shoulder: steady and calm.
Hyunjin takes a deep breath. “Clean towels, boiled water, and gauze if we have it. Thread, a needle, and herbs– something to stop the bleeding.”
The pantry is well stocked with jars and metal containers filled with flowers and herbs, meticulously grown and processed. This Jisung can do with confidence; plants have always been easier than people. Remedies and medicine are what Jisung is good at.
A jar of yarrow leaves, a tin of green tea, and a bottle of witch hazel, selected and placed on the counter. Seungmin has a strict rule about packaging remedies in the kitchen– they have a room for that. He's about to turn to get the mortar and pestle when it materializes in front of him. Chris offers him a smile, soft and encouraging. He grinds the yarrow leaves into a fine powder. The green tea and witch hazel he mixes into a paste. Blood spreads across the table as Jisung places the treatments within Hyunjin's reach.
Seungmin has brought hot water and a towel, working with Changbin to clear away the dirt and blood from the man's body. Long lines of split skin run from the omega's chest, curving along his side and stopping in the dip of his lower back. The wound oozes blood, and Hyunjin clicks his tongue at the damage. “I’ll have to stitch those,” he notes.
High in the man's thigh are gouges, pitted like someone has clawed out pieces of him. There are smaller wounds on his hands and feet, skin cracked open like dried-out dirt. Jisung returns to the pantry, pulling honey and more jars. Making another paste to keep the smaller wounds from getting infected, he passes the bowl to Seungmin.
Dirty water drips from the table. Chris brings another pot of boiled water and drops towels on the floor to soak up the mess.
Jisung stares, watching Seungmin tend to the smaller cuts as Hyunjin curses his way around the larger wounds. It takes him a long time to recognize the pattern across the body on the table, teeth and claws. Shifter or wild animal; he doesn’t have the courage to ask if anyone can tell the difference.
“Quit hovering," Hyunjin demands; really, he means to stop gawking.
They all do– moving to the couches. Still close enough in the open floor plan that Hyunjin can ask them for anything he needs, but far enough away not to bother him while he works. Jisung is grateful for the distance; blood has always made him squeamish.
His parents had wanted him to study medicine, pushing him to take classes. It’s how he met Hyunjin. The older boy had been a diligent student, excelling at being a healer. Jisung had puked on his first day of shadowing. Their teacher, a lovely older woman, rubbed his back with gentle strokes while shooing the other students away. “Being hands-on isn’t for everyone, dear. Perhaps you’d be better suited in the gardens.”
The gardens had been heaven compared to the medical ward. Plants don’t moan or cry. They don’t bleed or demand miracles he couldn’t perform. Yes, his teacher had been right. He was much more suited for garden work: growing plants and turning them into medicine and remedies. Jisung had learned to heal people in his own way despite his parents' disappointment.
Hyunjin thrives on connection, loves talking with people, and hearing their symptoms. He mends people with his hands, never shying away from blood and gore. He loves people, is good with people, and it shows.
“What happened?”
Jisung finds it hard to look away from the mess in the kitchen– the man on the table.
“Jisung, where did you find him?”
He looks around for Felix, hoping the other will do the talking, but he must have gone upstairs to wash off the dirt and blood.
“Bunny Meadow, by the river.”
Chris nods. “Jeongin and I will go see if we can catch his scent and find out where he came from. Someone did this to him, and I’d like to find them before they find us.”
Jeongin, still in his wolf skin, waits by the door. The answer to the question he’d been unwilling to vocalize earlier– too afraid of the answer. A shifter did that, a person. Jisung wants to tell them not to go, mind spiraling like it often does, circling all the worst possible outcomes. Images of his mates just as ravaged as the man on the table make his eyes burn with tears. Panic begins to rise, like a bird in his chest cavity batting its wings for takeoff.
Chris notices. He always notices. “Everything will be fine,” he says. He kisses Jisung's forehead and rubs his sternum in circles, calming the beast inside.
Changbin motions him to the couch. Jisung settles beside him, curled up against his bulk, never one to deny himself the comfort of his mates. Felix joins, wet hair creating a damp spot on Jisung’s shoulder that he doesn’t complain about.
Hyunjin makes an unhappy sound from the kitchen. “His fever is too high.”
"Well, I mean he is in heat, isn’t he?” Changbin questions. But it’s obvious the house is filled with candy oranges. In fact, the scent is a bit much, oppressive in the small space. Jisung pushes open the windows in the living room, taking in the fresh air.
“Something isn’t right.”
“He doesn’t smell right. It’s too much, too strong.”
The scent should be subtle and inviting, not like this.
“Just like his fever,” Hyunjin agrees.
His hands stop mid-push on the third window. An explanation sits on the tip of his tongue, but the idea is insane. “A forced heat?”
It’s barbaric and dangerous to induce heat. Hyunjin gives a grim nod; crazy as it sounds, it’s the most likely explanation. Jisung rushes back to the pantry. Heats should be annoying, not dangerous. A heat triggered through poisoning could be deadly. Forcing a heat is a crime in the city. So is attacking an omega and leaving them for dead– maybe Jisung shouldn’t be surprised.
Treating the man will be hard; giving him anything weak, as he is, without knowing what someone dosed him with could kill him. Jisung busies himself with mixing something up as a last resort.
Bandages and gauze cover most of the man as Seungmin and Hyunjin shift their focus to cleaning the mess made from treating the omega’s wounds.
“There was no scent to follow,” Chris tells them, as he kicks off his boots at the door. “He must have come down the river. We searched the woods but didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. If someone is looking for him, they haven’t made it this far. Hopefully, his scent in the meadow fades quickly.”
“Do you think he’ll make it?” Jeongin asks, peering into the kitchen.
Hyunjin sighs, dropping into a kitchen chair. “I don’t know. If he came down the river, he could have inhaled water– he might end up with pneumonia. His wounds might get infected, and we don’t know what’s safe to give him for his fever. We’ve stopped the bleeding, but it might not be enough.”
It’s a grim reality.
Chris nods once, as if deciding something. “I’m going to visit my father.”
Felix gasps, “You think he might be from the Northern Mountains?"
“It’s possible– that river flows along the edge of their territory. And a forced heat…”
“It’s exactly the kind of barbaric thing a northern mountain pack would do.” Seungmin tosses down the hand towel he’d dried his hands with.
“My parents know more about the traditions and rituals. They might be able to give us an idea of what he was given.”
Jisung looks to Hyunjin while everyone else is giving nods of agreement, as he seems to share Jisung’s confusion. They’ve both heard of the wolves that live on the mountains, of course. The North and South mountains bracket the valley. Jisung grew up seeing those mountains from the city, never dreaming that he'd one day live between them. The wolves live wild up in the mountains, shunning science and development, spending more time on four legs than two. They have always been a conversation for gossip. People in the city tend to liken them to animals rather than humans. The man on the table looks normal, not like some feral beast, but he’s injuries…
“Is violence like this normal in the mountains?”
“Sometimes,” Felix says, a frown replacing his sunny smile, "it's one of the reasons our families moved down into the valley. They wanted a more peaceful life for future generations.”
“Northern wolves don’t come down from the mountain, right? So they won’t come for him?” He picks at his cuticle, waiting for the answer no one seems to want to give. He’s met with wary glances and silence. His heart races, adrenaline pumping at the thought. In the city, stories of the mountain wolves are more akin to ghost stories– nightmarish tales. It had been his family’s greatest concern when he told them he’d be moving with Hyunjin to practice medicine in the village. His mother cried when he later told her he’d be moving into the woods shadowed by those mountains to live with the pack he and Hyunjin had bonded with.
“We should move him somewhere more comfortable.”
Changbin fetches an old twin bed frame from the barn, setting the bed up in the study on the first floor. Crates of empty jars and tins get stacked in the corner. Jisung has to snatch his ledger from Jeongin before it gets buried in the shuffling. He supposes he’ll have to get used to the company while he works because there's nowhere else for the wolf to go. Mixing teas and remedies from the cabin to sell is what he does.
Jisung had been unsure of moving from the comfort of the city. It had taken Hyunjin weeks to convince him to move to the village, leaving behind the safety they’d grown up with. “We could connect with our roots!” Jisung had scoffed at the idea. Their families were so far removed from the woods they couldn’t even shift anymore. They had no roots in the wild.
“Think of the garden you can grow– all the new plants!”
Jisung’s always been adamant that this is what convinced him, but honestly it was the longing in Hyunjin’s eyes. Hyunjin’s strong conviction and desire to help people and to connect with nature. Few healers were willing to move to remote villages after studying in the city. There were plenty of people near the mountains who needed help. That’s why he agreed to move.
There were five very good reasons to move into the woods, not including the greenhouse built just for him. That had been a very pleasant bonus.
Darkness has swallowed the forest when Chris returns; several of their mates have already wandered off to bed. Jisung couldn’t sleep sitting by the window watching the forest instead– haunted by blood-stained oranges.
“Wolfsbane. Most packs on the mountains still have mating runs– several induce the heat of the omegas participating.” Chris explains, sinking onto the window seat.
“Why would people willingly do that?”
“They don’t.”
A chill runs down his spine. The words hang heavy in the air. Jisung can’t help but lean into Chris, finding comfort in the welcomed embrace. It casts new light on the omega’s wounds, answering the question Jisung had been unwilling to vocalize earlier, too afraid of the answer. A shifter did that, a person, a pack; it shakes Jisung to his core.
“He must be stubborn.” Felix notes from the kitchen. "Must be quite the fighter to make it off the mountain. That’s a good thing, right?”
Perhaps the man will be stubborn enough to stare down death on its doorstep and walk right back.
Glancing over, it’s hard to believe hours earlier the room had been a makeshift operating room. The odd-looking fruit bowl Hyunjin carved from a chunk of oak sits in the middle of the pristine table that Changbin built. The floors shine, and everything smells faintly of citrus– oranges from the omega and lemon from the cleaning solution.
Hyunjin nods, taking a sip of his tea; there are bags under his eyes and a weary frown marring his features. He’d been too concerned about the omega to sleep. Chris takes note of it too; placing a comforting kiss on Jisung’s brow, he moves across the room in easy strides.
“You’re no good to anyone if you’re dead on your feet.” Chris says, messaging Hyunjin’s shoulders to ease the tension.
“But, his fever.”
“I’ll keep watch.”
“He’s in heat.” Hyunjin cuts himself off at Chris’s raised brow. “I just meant.”
“I know, love. You don’t have to worry, though. I am happily mated to the three most incredible omegas an alpha could ever find. I know how to check a thermometer– plus, Jisung’s already made a mixture for his fever. And I’ll wake you if something happens that I cannot handle.”
Jisung tucks his smile into his shoulder, as Chris counters every argument that Hyunjin could have with loving patience. With a sigh, Hyunjin relents, giving each of his mates a kiss before trudging up the stairs with heavy feet, the heaviness of the day weighing him down.
Catching sight of the moon, Jisung can’t help but marvel at how beautiful it is– even as it has started its waning phase. He wonders what it looks like up close on the mountain. He’s never thought much about the wolves that make their home up there– never met a wolf from the northern mountain. He knows a couple of times a year, a few will wander into Levanter to trade; it always causes a fuss in the village, but he’s always avoided the commotion.
.-.-.-.-.-.
The omega has moments of lucidity, when he will shift and groan. As the days tick by he mostly sleeps. There are times while Jisung sits at his desk going over orders that the man becomes so still, his breath shallow, that Jisung panics. Each time Jisung will place a hand on the man’s chest, hardly breathing himself as heat seeps into his palm.
He expected the man’s presence to uproot their lives, but it doesn’t.
Each day when Hyunjin returns from the village clinic, they sponge the omega down with cool water, removing the sweat from his fever. Hyunjin takes care to change the dressings on his wounds. Deep growls that make the omega seem like a wild animal rumble in his chest in his rare moments of consciousness. The sound makes the hair on Jisung’s arms rise.
“Don’t be like that,” Felix pouts, as he tries to get the blurry-eyed omega to drink. Felix spends all his free time checking in on their unexpected guest. The low thrum of protest coming from the man has Jisung looking at the door. He wouldn’t leave Felix in the woods, and he won’t abandon him in their home. He sighs, keeping his distance. Felix isn’t phased, staying patiently persistent in keeping the man hydrated. Most of the liquid spills from his lips. Felix pats him dry. The fussing takes all the man’s energy, sleep silencing him once more.
Jeongin sets a bag on the desk, staring at the omega. Peering into the bag, Jisung hums happily at the mushrooms the younger collected. The shifter always has an easier time sniffing them out than Jisung.
“His fever finally broke.” It has been five grueling days.
A light breeze filters through the open window, letting out the last traces of sticky orange. Jeongin stands in the doorway. He never asks questions, never does more than look at the stranger in their home like a puzzle he isn’t eager to finish. Every day after checking the traps in the forest, he brings Jisung the wild-growing mushrooms and plants that he’s collected. Jisung figures he must be curious even if he doesn’t vocalize it.
Jeongin shrugs, turning to leave but stopping halfway. “I brought back some blackberries, too.”
A squeal burst from Jisung as he jumps to smother the younger in kisses. The action is met with loud protest, but Jeongin doesn’t actually try to stop Jisung’s antics. It’s Hyunjin that comes stomping through the house hissing about being quiet so as not to disturb the omega’s rest. They both bow their heads staring at the floor as they apologize. Jisung doesn’t miss when Jeongin leaves, sticking out his tongue behind Hyunjin’s back.
On the ninth day, Changbin and Chris stand in the doorway. They’re sweaty from working outside. Chris has been tending to the animals, while Changbin has been woodworking.
“He’s past the worst of it,” Hyunjin explains, “There’s still a chance of infection, but he’s healing quickly.”
It takes nearly two weeks for the omega to finally wake for good. Jisung is packaging some remedies while Hyunjin is changing the omega’s bandages. The growl shatters the quiet. It's sharp and menacing, no longer the clumsy sounds of a sick wolf half-asleep.
They both freeze, glancing at the awake man. His eyes are dark like ink, appearing black the way they’re narrowed in a glare.
Hyunjin lifts his palms up slowly, inching back to create space. The sound doesn’t stop, deep and guttural, gaining momentum instead. The sound shifts to a sharp groan when the man tries to sit up. He falls back onto the bed, breath labored from the small effort.
“Please don’t move around too much– you’ll tear your stitches. I promise you’re safe here.”
The omega outright hisses at him, hand slapping against his neck, prodding his skin as he turns that fathomless glare to Jisung.
“No one has bitten you. No one here will. We found you by the river and brought you into our home to tend to your wounds.” Hyunjin’s voice is steady and kind. Jisung’s hands tremble with anxiety; the desire to help clashes with the fear of not knowing how.
Again, the man tries to lift himself into a less prone position, pushing his palms into the mattress, but his arms won’t hold him, and he crumbles again.
“Would you like something for the pain?” Jisung already has a powder ready, stirring a spoonful into the tea he’d made for himself but hadn’t started drinking. Tea sloshes onto the desk in his haste, spoon clanking against the teacup.
The bone-cracking along the man’s spine overshadows the sharp sound of breaking glass as he rises and shifts into a menacing solid black wolf. A strangled gasp catches in Jisung’s throat; between one blink and the next, he finds himself on his back, sharp teeth inches from his face. He braces for pain.
Instead, the wolf collapses on top of him, forcing the air from his lungs in a painful wheeze. The fur against his skin is the softest thing he’s ever felt. He blames the bizarre thought on the near-death experience and tries to gather his wits. The rumbling growl helps. He forces himself to breathe, despite how painful it is with the death weight pressing down on his lungs.
The door to the room bangs against the wall with the force it’s opened with, rushed voices demanding to know what happened. It seems the shift took all the omega’s energy because he hardly twitches.
“No, no, no– everyone just calm down.” Hyunjin demands, stopping Changbin, Jeongin, and Seungmin from rushing further into the room. “Just let me handle this.”
"Jisung, are you alright?” Changbin asked with the right priorities.
“He’s clearly dangerous!” –Seungmin.
“He can’t stand? Who exactly is he a danger to?”
Jisung would argue that he feels a bit endangered– if he could get enough air to do so. And while the omega seems to have no strength left at the moment to actually harm Jisung, the wolf’s canine teeth are terribly close to Jisung’s neck. So close he can feel the wetness from every exhale and feel the vibration of the man’s grumbling.
“Help,” he squeaks, feeling guilty as Changbin ignores Hyunjin’s wishes. Changbin grabbing the man makes the rumbling sound worse; Jisung winces at how painful it must be. Claws prick against his skin as the omega resists Changbin’s pulling. Changbin is gentle as he deposits the man back onto the bed.
Jisung avoids Hyunjin’s gaze as he files out of the room with Jeongin.
“All of you out!”
“Okay,” Changbin sighs, “But the door stays open.”
The guilt eats at him; he’d made a mistake. Beyond the blood that Jisung couldn’t stomach, the other reason he preferred medicine and remedies to physically healing people like Hyunjin is that he lacked bedside manner. He’s an awkward and clumsy person– he’s never been good at reading a room or noticing what people need.
Seungmin clicks his tongue at him as the others fuss over him. “I’m fine really. He just startled me.”
And he is fine, shaken, but fine. More worried than anything about the damage that he may have caused.
“Can you shift back,” Hyunjin questions, voice low. “I’m much better at treating humans and you’re bleeding again.”
Weary eyes track Hyunjin as he cleans up the glass and tea from the floor. The silence is somehow more unsettling than the growling. That spark of life always reassured Hyunjin the omega in his care still had fight– a will to live.
Dropping the shards of glass into the bin, Hyunjin sticks his head out the door. “Felix, could you help? I think he might respond better to another wolf.”
His time in the village had taught him that sometimes shifters respond better to other shifters. Hyunjin may have a wolf inside him, but it’s different– he's never been able to take a physical form.
Felix is shedding his clothes and shifting before anyone can protest. Seungmin’s huffing doesn’t go unnoticed, just ignored for now. The shifters in the pack had tried to explain what it was like communicating while a wolf– it never made sense to Hyunjin.
“It’s like another language, but not a vocal one… more like sign language. It’s all about scent and body language.” Which had baffled Hyunjin, who’d always heard it compared to telepathy in the city. It’s certainly a language he doesn’t understand.
The black wolf makes a point of turning his head away from Felix, a slight movement but dismissive all the same. Felix hums, chuffs, and lowers himself to the ground. Crawling forward in an awkward shuffle, he stops just shy of the bed. The rises up just enough to see the on top of the bed but not be higher than the black wolf on it.
They stay like that for so long that Hyunjin is afraid that it won’t work– that Felix will not be able to get the wolf to shift back. Hyunjin will either have to wait for the wolf to lose consciousness and hope he shifts back naturally or try to aid him in this form.
It takes effort to not flinch at the sound of grinding bone– Felix grabs the spare quilt from the foot of the bed with human hands. The snap of bone rearranging is always a bit jarring, no matter how often his mates shift around him.
The omega looks pitiful pulling the blanket up to his face; his hands look tiny wrapped around the edge.
“Birch wolf, what will you do with me?”
Birch wolf Hyunjin has never heard the term before, though he knows there are many packs that live in the valley and mountains. He’s never heard anyone refer to Felix as such. He watches his mate, wondering if the term is an insult. But Felix only smiles softly.
“My name is Felix. I’m not a birch wolf– my family left the southern mountain generations ago to find peace in the meadows. What’s your name?”
It’s quiet enough to hear the ticking of the grandfather clock in the next room. Hyunjin is so focused on the passing of time, worrying over the blood he is sure the omega is losing from his reopened wounds that he almost doesn’t catch the soft reply.
“Minho.”
“What pack are you from?”
A growl starts, the first rumblings before a painful cough consumes the omega, leaving them gasping for breath. “I won’t go back,” he manages, his eyes conveying the conviction that his voice lacks.
Holding his hands up in surrender, Felix tries to backtrack. “I was only curious! No one’s going to send you back. You can stay here as long as you need.” Felix rushes, eyes wide. “My family is originally from the south mountain where the birch trees grow– our color gives us away. But I’ve never seen a solid black wolf before.”
The rambling is met with sluggish blinking. “I’m from the peak of the northern mountain, where the mountain touches the heavens and the spruce trees are so dense it might as well always be night.”
A tiny gasp–, “Reapers of the North.”
It could be fear; it could be reverence– Hyunjin isn’t sure.
A crooked smirk plays on the omega’s lips. “Will you still keep me in your home, little Birch Wolf from the Meadows?”
The sluggish blinking settles into sleep before Felix can answer.