Chapter Text
Johnny had never been born to be a leader.
He had been the son of nobodies, an unimportant alpha and omega from lines of nobodies.
He had been born to be a worker, another nobody that was a piece in the bigger picture of a huge pack.
The other kids he had been raised together with had been the same. The second class, those without much of a destiny to fulfill.
It hadn’t been bad, but it had always been incredibly clear that they were lower than the kids of the leaders and warriors. Where they learnt how to till a field, chop wood, build huts, mend clothes, do laundry, cook, do a decent job to keep the pack fed, those first-line puppies were taught how to hunt, how to fight, how to lead, how to excel.
It wasn’t about being an omega or an alpha, how Taeil had said it had been in his pack. Anyone could be a hero in Johnny’s pack – if they were destined.
And Johnny just hadn’t been destined for greatness. For mediocracy at best.
So.
Fuck destiny.
“What do you want here?” Johnny barked at the stranger that they had found in their forest and dragged to their clearing for interrogation.
Johnny was pissed.
Likely, this wasn’t to be taken seriously, but still. Finding an intruder was upsetting, could be a sign that more would follow and showed how easy it was to trample past their markings right into their territory.
Getting attacked was a constant threat, one that kept Johnny up at night because they couldn’t afford a border patrol, there were too few of them, too young, too inexperienced. Without one they were missing a crucial first line of defense.
Johnny had responsibility for his pack – and he took that very seriously. It was his duty as the Alpha to take care of his pack, and invaders would be dealt with accordingly. It wasn’t destiny, it was his hard work.
The stranger’s eyes landed on Johnny and he raised a challenging eyebrow as if he wasn’t dirty, alone, and in visibly bad shape.
Not starved, not critically injured, but in need of new clothes, a bath, and sleep.
“It’s none of your business,” he spat back, hostility in his voice. They had dragged him here, but they had been four against one and even then not immediately gotten him under control.
He was not just anybody, that was clear to Johnny.
“It is my business, you were hunting on our land!” Johnny snapped back. Basically, his pack was made up of people like this stranger, but no one had been entitled enough to hunt in their claimed land and then proceed to be snappy about it.
“Your land? What, how old are you? 12? That’s laughable, is that seriously all of you?”
The stranger looked around in amusement and Johnny followed his eyes for a second.
His pack was small, no, tiny. Only seven people, one of which an actual puppy, unpresented and young. Still, Johnny’s instincts flared up in rage from being taunted like that.
“You should be glad I found you and offer me a spot here because you clearly need someone like me!” The stranger announced, then elbowed Yuta into the gut as if that’d evoke any sort of sympathy that he had already made sure wouldn’t be extended towards him by his previous behaviour.
Yuta groaned and doubled over, but Doyoung was immediately in his place, holding the unfamiliar omega down.
“Why should we do that? We don’t even know where you’re from if you don’t state your business!” Johnny roared.
He had never met a person as irritating as this one. He just wanted to kick him out even though that was very unusual for his caring nature.
“Fine, my business is not dying of hunger, there, happy?” He crossed his arms, pursing his lips. He had certainly been quite successful not dying, which was good for him, but Johnny couldn’t calm down. Not with the omega pressing all his buttons as if there was a record to break.
“Where are you from?” Johnny asked. He wasn’t just asking for the fun of it. Knowing someone’s history was important for their safety. He certainly didn’t look like he had a place to return to, but much more like someone had sent him to cause trouble. Johnny knew a few of the pack members were still worried someone could come after them.
Nevermind this person could try to hurt them just for his own gain. They had made this pack their home and claimed this land despite being too few and too young to be respected by anyone – and Johnny would do everything within his powers to keep them safe.
“Nowhere. If you used your brain and scented me, you’d know I’m a loner!”
It was snappy as everything had been, but how his voice broke spoke of pain and fear.
Johnny felt for him, they all did. This pack, young and small, was made up of loners. Some had run away, some had been kicked out, some hadn’t been given a choice when nothing else had been left of their homes.
“He’s right,” Doyoung pointed out and Johnny took a deep breath.
“Congratulations, you have at least one brain cell.” The stranger rolled his eyes dramatically, voice stable and taunting again. It was unbelievable how he could be like that? The understanding evaporated and Johnny was right back on edge, snapping back.
“Hey! Do you think it’s the way to go attacking people if you want to join them?”
They had interrupted his hunting and he had proceeded to jump on Yuta’s throat without holding back – it hadn’t looked like he had peaceful intentions. It still didn’t.
“Do I look like I have magical mind-reading and know you’re just a bunch of puppies clearly in need of more members?”
“And now you know, yet you behave like this?”
He was so irritating, why was he like that?
“Okay, please, please, I need a place to stay and you need some more people who can kick ass, could you please let me stay, I promise to be helpful and stuff.” The stranger batted his lashes, pretending he was asking sweetly and not still teasing and provoking them.
Johnny wanted to tell him to fuck off with that attitude and see what good it’d do him.
But he met eyes with Doyoung, who looked so hopeful and understanding despite normally being the first to rise to a challenge.
Johnny was blinded by his instincts to protect his pack. It’d be cruel to send him away even if he might survive. If this had been the wrong pack’s land, he’d be dead by now.
“What’s your name and age?” He asked, trying to calm down. This was the bare minimum he expected the stranger to offer.
“My name is Ten and I’ll be 15 around this moon.”
“Is that a joke?”
“What, is my name a joke to you? Let me reconsider if I’d kindly offer you my support!” The stranger snapped before he bared his teeth and growled, trying to break free again.
Johnny realised he had been rude and it clearly was a sore point. This reaction, however, was yet another completely inappropriate one.
“Sorry, it’s not. You can stay for now but if there’s reason to assume you’ll hurt us, you’ll see very quickly what good that’ll be for you!” Johnny threatened, but it was clear nothing would intimidate Ten.
“Sure, sure, though you seem much too big a softie to tear anyone’s throat out anyway.”
Johnny nearly snapped.
He didn’t.
He took a deep breath and remained calm.
Had anyone he had ever known been this… whatever it was. Just seeing him smirk when Doyoung and Taeil let go got under Johnny’s skin and made him want to reconsider for just a second. He desperately wanted to challenge Ten to make him submit and shut his loud mouth.
He didn’t. It would be quite embarrassing and Johnny was actually not entirely sure he could win – which would be even more embarrassing.
He hadn’t grown up learning how to fight, he had only learnt that later. Yes, he was this pack’s Alpha, their leader, but not because he was the best fighter – Yuta was. Yuta lacked other skills, though, skills needed to lead in their opinion.
He’d only make a fool of himself losing to Ten.
So he kept calm and let Doyoung ask if Ten wanted to be shown around.
“He’s different.”
Johnny looked up from where he had been weeding the field since the sun had risen. He had skipped breakfast, he sometimes did when there was too much on his mind.
His mind had not stopped since last afternoon, had barely let him rest for a little.
Kun crouched down next to him, starting to weed as well.
“Not in a bad way, of course. I think we can count ourselves lucky he showed up.”
Johnny snorted. Ten had been snappy all evening and not exactly made it feel like having him around would be good in any way.
“Why?”
“I think he was raised to be a leader.”
Johnny had to clench his teeth. He knew about everyone’s past, not in detail, but they knew they were missing some skills to establish their pack in their land – leading skills, Alpha skills. No one had been taught because they either hadn’t been deemed worthy or they had been too young.
“He’s highly irritating.”
“I think he’s scared. The chance to fulfill what he had been raised to do was probably taken from him when he presented as omega. I guess he doesn’t want a repeat.”
“He has a poor way of showing that.”
“He’s like you; when he’s provoked, he attacks.”
“I’m not like that.”
Johnny just wanted to keep his pack safe and most situations of being provoked asked for you to attack.
“My guess is that he’ll need a few moons to settle in and show his true self.”
“Hrm.”
“I think he could be a better second than Taeyong is.”
Johnny snorted. He didn’t think so, not with how hard headed Ten had shown himself to be thus far. A leader had to understand his pack members, that was important to Johnny and he was good at that. Taeyong was, too, so Taeyong was his second – also because no one else had been interested in the position – or Johnny’s, for that matter. There had never been a real fight over leadership, they had just synched up like this.
“I mean it. We all know Taeyong does this for you, not for himself.”
“That’s not true, he also does it for your sake.”
“Yes, but the point stands that Taeyong was never hot for the position and the responsibility it entails – he just did it because he feels like he has to and he is very poor at hiding that.”
Johnny stood up to move further down the field.
His stomach hurt at Kun’s words.
He knew they were true, but it bothered him.
He didn’t want anyone to be unhappy, but he couldn’t fix this. Yuta had no patience, Taeil had no ambition, Doyoung had no drive, and Kun had no confidence to lead. Jaehyun was still a puppy – though strictly speaking so was everyone else. You only became an adult by society’s standards once you were physically mature. Able to reproduce.
None of them was.
Responsibility was heavy. Johnny felt like it was suffocating him.
Yet thinking that Ten could be better suited, could have these skills he lacked, made him angry.
Envious. He was envious.
Because this hadn’t been his destiny – and yet it was his wish to be the Alpha of his pack. Nobody had ever threatened his position and he knew very well that Ten might.
And he might lose to Ten.
“We’ll see. He’ll have to settle in before he can claim any title or responsibility.”
“Yeah. Sure. Do you need help with that?”
“I always need help weeding. I wished it’d just not grow and leave our crops alone.”
“Don’t we all?”
Behind his emotions, Johnny knew Kun was right.
He would give Ten a few days to get settled before he judged too hastily.
Which proved to be a challenge quite quickly.
“You need a border patrol. Why don’t you have a border patrol? That’s the first thing you need!”
It had been just three nights since Kun had talked to Johnny.
The first two days, Ten had been quiet, he had had to figure everything out and had let others show him around to get the hang of everything.
The third day, Ten had joined the hunt and broken their protocol, which had led to their prey getting away easily and a big fight right in the middle of their hunting grounds by the end of which everyone else had long returned to camp and just Ten and Johnny had still been yelling at each other about procedures and traditions.
Johnny had never in his life had a fight like that one and he still hadn’t fully recovered from it.
So, today was the fourth day and Ten had found him where he had been sharpening knives.
He was still tired from yesterday’s arguing, but Ten didn’t seem to need to recover and was back with another sore topic.
“We’re too few people.”
“You’ll be even fewer people if someone launches a surprise attack on you because no one bothered to secure the border. No wonder I was able to peacefully find lunch.”
Johnny ground his teeth.
“We only have eight people in total and you should never patrol alone. Jaehyun’s still unpresented.”
“Johnny, seven people are more than enough! The day is split into three shifts, you just need six people for that.”
“You can’t make everyone run around the territory every day!”
Ten glared.
“Do you have literally any clue about how to run a pack? This is not optional!”
Johnny glared back.
“I do or we wouldn’t be here anymore after a snowstorm last winter!”
“How very nice and heartwarming. I’m simply pointing out that attackers will take care of what that snowstorm didn’t accomplish, yet here you are continuing with what already proved to be a shitty strategy!”
Ten poked a sharp finger into Johnny’s chest, electric blue eyes ablaze.
“Listen, Johnny, I don’t care about you nor your huge ego, I only care about this pack growing into something because I was fucking lonely for seasons and now I have another chance to belong and I don’t want poor decisions from some tradition-loving alpha to take that away from me when I only just got it!”
“How about you first try to belong, then?” Johnny barked back and Ten froze.
He felt sorry. The tone had been inappropriate, but how could Ten just say that when he was sticking out like a sore thumb and these “traditions” were what they had figured out worked best for them as a group?
“You know what? If you are so desperate to see all of this go to actual hell – why would I stop you? I don’t belong, you’re right. How dare I try to worry about any of this when I don’t belong. Yes, thank you, Johnny, I see why everyone thinks so highly of you, I really do.”
With that, he turned on his heel and marched off, leaving Johnny speechless.
His mind had just shut down from being insulted in so many ways and he didn’t even know where to start because he could just make it worse or prove Ten right.
“Maybe if you do that belonging thing you’ll understand!” He called after Ten because he couldn’t hold back.
“Fuck you!” Was all he got back.
And Johnny felt like his destiny had been right not making him a leader.
He held out four nights.
Four miserable nights and days full of lack of sleep because the fear that he was missing an essential institution to keep his pack safe kept him up.
Originally, there had been too few people to have a border patrol, but Ten was right, there were enough now and if they foolishly risked attack, that would be worse. Their weaknesses, which were their small numbers and lack of experience, would be quite obvious anyway. It was unlikely a border patrol would give that away. On the contrary, it could be what kept them secret and safe.
He had never learnt how to patrol, though, much less how to plan and schedule a patrol.
So he just kept going in circles, trying to find solutions to the many questions he was facing. As the Alpha, he should figure this out and since he had never been taught, he’d have to do it by himself.
He had always made up for his shortcomings by working hard.
“Johnny?”
He jerked around from where he had still been staring at the shadows his candles cast on his tent’s wall.
“Yes?”
“Hey, it’s me. Ten. May I come in?”
Johnny had known it was him by his voice.
“Um. Yeah. Sure.”
He looked around, finding his place to be a little too messy to receive guests, but Ten was already letting himself inside. The candles flickered from the gust of wind.
He knew deep down that he had to go to Ten. Ask him for help. He had a feeling Ten knew exactly how to schedule a border patrol and would help if he asked.
He hadn’t found it in himself, though. He didn’t want to ask Ten out of all people.
Now Ten was here, inserting himself, once more.
Why, though? To pour oil into the flame? To taunt Johnny more?
“Hey, listen, I’m sorry about… I’m sorry about my choice of words. Not my message, though.”
That was unexpected. Ten didn’t look defeated, but he looked sincere. He was different from anyone Johnny knew, it made sense he wouldn’t come with his metaphorical tail between his legs.
Johnny sighed and gestured for Ten to sit down on the hides he used as a socialising area. They didn’t have a community tent and Johnny’s was the biggest, so they often used it to come together, especially in winter.
“I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have lashed out. Still, you’ve only been with us for nine days, Ten, maybe try to see how we live first before you want to reorder everything?”
Ten grumbled.
“You need a border patrol. I told you it’s not optional, it has nothing to do with the way of living you choose. And I do… I guess it’s nice how you do it.”
“Thank you.”
Silence spread between them, awkward and thick.
“I don’t know how to plan a border patrol. Could you…”
“Fuck, I knew you couldn’t be that much of an arrogant ass if everyone loves you so much. Yes! Yes, I can help you with that! Thank you!”
The light of the candles reflected in Ten’s eyes before they turned into small crescents from his smile.
“Thanks
. Appreciate it.”
“Please, spare me. Okay, you must know all members’ strengths and weaknesses in combat. Tell me everything so we can plan teams accordingly!”